Bonfire Setup, Friday

[Shihab]

Late friday afternoon, three-ish, Shihab bounded over the boulderfield and cliff-like ground* that led up to the beach, taking a great leap down from a rock about his height onto the deep sand, and sliding a good few feet. He laughed aloud and loped down into the beach proper, his backpack loosely strung over one shoulder, and all school supplies exchanged for various partying implements. He wasn't exactly sure he'd be able to find Less's den, but set about looking anyway, a critical eye turned towards planning and scheming.

They'd probably be here until evening, he figured, dropping his backpack on a nearby rock. The thought had crossed his mind to skip Magic For Mages so he'd have more time. The thought had immediately been struck by the mental equivalent of several eighteen-wheelers, along the lines of "You're only taking two classes, you idiot!" and "Oh, yeah, I'm sure Professor Freeman will have no problem with you skipping his class less than a week after you establish your identity and cover the basics of pyromancy. What could possibly go wrong?" and a new, unfamiliar thought that he thought -might- be the fabled 'responsibility.' He wasn't sure if he liked it yet.

Putting scholarly thoughts aside for the moment, he began rifling through his backpack, pulling out things that were staying here. He hoped one of the others would get there soon; it'd take a few trips, or a few people, or both, to get everything down to the beach.

*((All the natural beaches in that area are cliffs and/or gravel (except one! and the sand there is all crushed shells), which is why I'm guessing July specified imported sand.))

[Susan Daunt]

There is a high whoop of amusement from behind Shihab and Susan crashes down with a thud, dressed for the cold and aparently not remotely burdened by several large bags of party supplies slung over her shoulders and in her arms.

"I found the stash of stuff in the towers after I couldn't find you and decided to bring it all down here in one go in stead of waiting for you," the Daunt scion announced with a big grin as she straightened a little under a load that, despite apperances, was actually quite heavy, "That's not a problem is it?"

[Shihab]

Shihab turned and greeted Susan with a cheerful grin. "Hullo! Yeah, that's fine!" He glanced at the load, gesturing to the rock beside him. "Right here's good," he said, pausing to look back at what she was carrying. That... h'm. Shihab was no weakling, and he knew exactly how heavy that bundle was. He let none of the appraisal going on in his head mar his cheerful smile, though.

He leapt a few steps down towards the ocean, bounding from rock to rock, rather than touching sand. "I'm not sure where the den is," he called over his shoulder. "Less probably has it hidden better'n a dragon's den; hope he shows up soon!"

[Susan Daunt]

"Give me a second! Got to put these down," Susan answered as she unloaded her carefully balanced burdened with a series of thuds. Enhanced strength or no, balance was the key to safe and swift transport, and probably the only thing keeping her from beating a potential foe over the head with a car was how unwieldy such a weapon would be.

Soon enough she hurried after Shihab down the beach, blue eyes alert for her werewolf classmate, "So. What's with all the rumors of ghost fires at night recently? The girl's dorm is buzzing with it."

[Shihab]

Shihab raised an eyebrow, glancing down at her. "Ghost fires? I'm not sure-- what do they look like? I hadn't heard anything."

He tossed a pebble down at the sand, grinning at the dent it made in the sand. "I'm out pretty late, from time to time, but a lot of it's in the library-- I don't know what a ghost fire is."

[Susan Daunt]

"Ghostfire: sign of supernatural infestation of an area or person, often taking the form of dancing flames that burn in midair with an intense cold," Susan cheerfully quoted from her training, "Or at least that's what people have been talking about seeing from a distance. I'd be surprised if it *was* ghost fires with Mr. Freeman around to quash such things, but..."

She chuckled with the hope of righteous potential smiting to come, "Ghostfires are one of the things I could be activated to help deal with if it turns out to be a problem. A blessing or two and bang boom, I'm good for instant target practise on them."

[Shihab]

Shihab was staring intently at the beach, looking for a sign of Less's den, and Susan's words only half hit him, at first. "Mmm," he nodded absently. Then he took a second, and nearly choked on the meaning. Taking a moment, he glanced back down at her, quirking an eyebrow.

"Why do they need to be 'dealt with' anyway?" Giving up on the den for a moment, he swung down onto the rock. "Unless they're actively causing harm, I don't see reason for Professor Freeman -- or anyone -- to get involved, if they're just... lights."

[Susan Daunt]

"They're symptoms of an underlying pro... No, let's call it a disease. And sometimes you have to fight the symptoms to give the area or person time to recover. Or keep ignorant civilians from panicking and making things worse before you can put a Seal on the whole thing," Susan explained with a grin, "But like I said, it's probably *not* ghost fires. Mr. Freeman would take care of it before it got that far. He helped me learn how to avoid blowing up my spells after all. Crazy dream thing. Worked though."

[Shihab]

((For the record: Hope and I moved this to a chat on IRC. The channel is #BonfireSetup if you'd like to join in (it's /join #BonfireSetup), and we'll post a transcript here when it's done.))

[Shihab]

((Kinda-sorta cleaned Transcript; I'll finish the editing later, 'tis too late, atm.))

00:33 Shihab *grins widely* Alright, if we can avoid getting angry, here-- you say disease, but you were about to say process. What process?
00:34 Susan Problem actually, Shihab. Disease was the better word.
00:36 Shihab Alright, alright-- why? *tapping impatiently on the rock, gears clearly turning* You can't possibly expect me to simply take it on faith that cold fires at night can only be a disease, Susan.
00:39 Susan Ghostfires are a symptom of a curse or possesion or, well, something that usually shouldn't be happening. *shrugs* Something worth looking into to see if people need help.
00:39 Shihab *bursts out laughing* Ah, of course! Silly me. What if they weren't ghostfires?
00:44 Susan Given this school? I've been told it's officially not my business after I almost disemboweled Verrin for opening a hellgate on campus. So I try not to worry about it. *frowns* Hard as that is.
00:46 Shihab *laughs again, a bit less raucously* Well. Disemboweling is probably frowned on in most environments, even for attempted hellgates-- at least, without the proper authority. *shrug* That's the problem with vigilantism. You've still got authorities in /place/. Here, they happen to be various professors.
00:49 Susan *shrugs and adds without rancor* He escalated it to lethal force first. It's just his bad luck lethal force wasn't quite enough to drop me where I stood. *shrugged again*
00:51 Shihab Ehh. *makes a wry face and toes at the sand, stretching his leg just a -little- bit farther than he should be able to, to reach it* He had it coming, I don't doubt. I've been planning a nasty surprise for him for a while, on behalf of his roommate. *shrugs, poking at the sand some more* I don't know that I would've handled it any differently.
00:58 Susan It's not an excuse by the way. I earned the punishment I got, and given the same situation, would probably do the same thing. No, I'd go for a sleeper hold given how agressive he was. Take him down quick.
00:59 Shihab *laughs aloud again, grinning over at her* Oh, I didn't think so. Freeman caught you, right? Is it just the philosophy thing, or are there more... insidious methods, as well?
01:00 Susan Ehh? *puzzled look*
01:01 Shihab *shrugs, laying back on the rock* I mean, he's making you copy philosophers out, right? There's got to be a reason for it-- he doesn't seem the type to be into busywork.
01:07 Susan Oh. That. I'm supposed to learn lessons about the proper base of power, but that really has very little to do with stopping people who can drop eldritch horrors on your head while you mirandize them. Lost a Great Aunt that way.
01:07 Susan *she shrugged stoiaclly*
01:08 Shihab *gives her a somewhat eyerollofa look* Lessons on the proper base of power probably have more to do with when it is, and is not, appropriate to directly confront a perceived threat, rather than finding a higher authority. But that's just me, being silly.
01:11 Susan *chuckled* I'm asking for a cellphone for my birthday, just so I *can* put Mr. Freeman on 'speed dial' next time I see cosmic evil on campus. That should make him happy enough, I think.
01:12 Shihab *bursts out laughing again, sits back up* I would attack you just for the sake of seeing that call. *grins* So, so worth it.
01:14 Susan *grins widely* I'm pretty sure I don't have to check to defend myself from attack.
01:15 Shihab *snorts, then cackles mysteriously* Ah, but what if I turned out to be a threat of Cosmic Evil And Doom? Er-- Doooooom! *pauses, frowns, clears throat* *DOOOOOM*!! Yeah, that's more like it.
01:18 Susan *frowning unamused* Please don't do that. I don't want to think about possibly doing that to you.
01:19 Shihab *smiles, shaking his head* D'awww. That's touching. *raises one eyebrow, somewhat amusedly* What makes you think you'd have a shot at disemboweling me?
01:24 Susan "If it bleeds, I've been trained totry and kill it. Or at least chop it into small enough pieces that I can go and find someone else who can without it regenerating before I get back. It's what a Daunt does, Shihab, until the magic leaves us as we lay dying.
01:25 Shihab ...Well, that's not disturbing at all. *makes a wry face* What if it doesn't bleed? *grins again, trying to reach the pebble with his sneaker* I could be some sort of bloodless, soulless incarnation of an eldritch abomination, you know. *cheats again, and reaches the pebble*
01:29 Susan I never said it was all happiness and reward. *smiles* In that case, it would be my job to keep you occupied long enough for the IEC to suck us both into a private hell neither of us will escape for a thousand and one years.
01:30 Shihab *opens mouth, takes breath, stops. Closes mouth. Opens mouth again, closes.* ...There is not a word in any language, human or other, to describe how absolutely /ludicrous/ that is. *gives her a sidelong look* And you wondered why I had a problem with your group being an unequivocal authority?
01:34 Susan Well, what would you do to deter an eldritch abomination from turning wisconson into it's own warped playground in 1962? Or Mexico City in 1895? Sometimes, one must sacrifice if all other options fails, Shihab.
01:37 Shihab Heh. I didn't say anything about the necessity of self-sacrifice. What I said, was the power to open a private hell for a thousand and one years is probably something that should be watched by more than the group using it. *grins, decides against telling her that it'd need to last longer than that to hold him back* But that's just my opinion, and that of >>
01:37 Shihab nearly every rational person who's considered the topic in the last few centuries. *coughs*
01:42 Susan *shrugs philosophically* Who says they aren't? I just know of the incidents avoided by that kind of action not the how and why. *smiles again*
01:44 Shihab *remains silent for a moment, thinking* Isn't that sort of like saying "interference in third-world countries /can/ solve their problems, so we should Help Them Out post-haste"? Idealogically, and without reckoning on human error, it works. In reality, you get things like the Congo, and South Africa, and the disaster in Afghanistan, the Philippines... it's >>
01:45 Shihab a dangerous thing to support an action because it fixes some problems, without fully understanding the reasoning for and against it. *shrugs* Especially if you're the one principally carrying it out.
01:48 Susan *considers* Maybe. But my family knows more about it than I do, and they wouldn't tell me something was worthwhile if it wasn't.
01:50 Shihab ...H'm. You know, I try to bear in mind that different people may have different relationships with their families than I do. *smiles, just a bit* Clearly, being of some kind of Very Important Lineage, you and I led terribly different lives. But if any single one of my blood relations told me something as an absolute truth, I would disbelieve it until I could
01:51 Shihab prove it for myself, simply because it's better that way. Same with anything I learn here; I test every single lesson in Freeman's class extensively, both by library proofs and practical tests, before I actually note it as fact. *shrugs, restlessly* Taking things on faith as fact is a terrible habit to get into.
01:57 Susan *gives Shihab a Look* My family wouldn't lie to me. And given everything else in this world I know is out to get us, I won't start doubting them without evidence.
01:58 Shihab *shrugs nonchalantly* As you wish, then. I'm just sayin', thinking for yourself need not always be a bad thing.
01:59 Susan "Does that involve thinking about what certain distrustful classmates say?
02:01 Shihab *laughs* Me? I'm above question. *jumps lightly to the highest point on the rock, posing* A /paragon/ of honor, respect, and truthiness! *stares loftily out at the waves, adding rather quietly* Of course it does. But I'm not giving you cold hard facts about the world, am I?
02:04 Susan *crosses her arms over her chest, looking up at him* Seems to me, you are.
02:04 Shihab Oh? *cranes neck, looking down without changing position* What cold hard facts, in this conversation, have I asked you to swallow blindly?
02:10 Susan That my superiors are untrustworthy of the power they wield. That the ultimate sanction they have unleashed 27 times in their history is something they abuse. That my family is unworthy of the trust I give them. That people are not good given the chance, perhaps.
02:14 Shihab *grins, without turning his head* I think you're confusing this conversation with a similar earlier conversation. I only implied that you shouldn't take everything you're told at face value-- I didn't -tell- you your Mysterious Powers are abusive untrustworthy dictators.
02:16 Susan No, you just painted the white wall black until the only white left formed those letters.
02:17 Shihab *laughs, nearly breaking his pose* Implications! Inferences! See? Using your own mind can be fun! *grins arrogantly*
02:18 Ada wanders her way down to the beach, looking distracted
02:26 Shihab *glances backwards, nearly toppling* Hey there! Ada, right?
02:27 Susan *shakes her head* I'll be back guarding the supplies and looking for Less.
02:27 Ada ...which only makes sense if Seraph in fact isn't an atomic opera- what? People?
02:28 Shihab looks balefully after Susan, shakes himself, and jumps off the rock.
02:28 Shihab Atomic opera? Where?
02:29 Ada Operator. It should be a single operator. All the books say it is... but yet, it behaves in too complicated a manner.
02:29 Shihab ...Er. I may be missing an important segment of your conversation. *glances about* Possibly the other half of it?
02:30 Ada ...Sorry. Magical theory is getting the better of my spare time.
02:30 Shihab almost literally lights up
02:30 Shihab Really? Which class, specifically?
02:32 Ada None of them, actually. It's a research project I've been working on.
02:32 Shihab *sits back down, nodding* Still interesting. What're you researching?
02:33 Ada Hypatian Geomancy... Complicated stuff.
02:33 Ada And it doesn't make sense.
02:33 Ada Even though it's supposed to.
02:34 Shihab *grins* Since when is magic supposed to make sense? *pauses, headshake* Er, forget I said that. Geomancy I think I know-- diagrams, runes, symmetry sort of thing, right? What does the Hypatian mean?
02:37 Ada Named for Hypatia of Alexandria... The last time anyone really worked on it was back when the Library was around.
02:39 Shihab ...Ah. *grins wryly* Where have you been all semester? How're you finding resources, then, if the latest findings are lost to the Ages?
02:39 Ada There were a few survivors...
02:40 Ada I've found enough to be thoroughly puzzled, at least...
02:40 Ada For a 'perfectly logical' system of magic, it's massively complicated.
02:40 Ada There's a lot of little things that just don't make sense.
02:41 Shihab *laughs* As far as I know, that's mostly what scholars do best. Find out just enough to realize that it's really complicated. But what-- er, I'm sure it's going to be really hard to explain, given the magnitude, but... what -is- it?
02:45 Ada Well... Huh. Harder question to answer than it seems.
02:46 Ada It's a system for doing magic - fairly complete, and definitely different from what Prof. Freeman has been covering.
02:46 Ada Different rules, different basics...
02:47 Shihab *nods* Something based on a system other than inherent skill or power, I take it? d
02:48 Ada It's still based on power, but the way it all is steered and interacted with is completely different.
02:48 Ada Rules-based, rather than will-based.
02:48 Ada It's rather like programming - describe what you want it to do, and if you have the power to do it, it will.
02:49 Ada It's not like the Words of Creation or other such systems, where just knowing the Words is enough to use them.
02:50 Shihab Hmmm. That is definitely different from Prof. Freeman's systems. I'm sure this is a gross over-simplification, but the lore where mages simply gave the demons they summoned very specific commands...?
02:50 Ada Kinda. Except it's raw power, not demons.
02:52 Shihab So it's a logic-based, programming style of magic? Makes sense. Seems like it'd go a long way towards leveling the playing field as concerns those born without inherent magical abilities.
02:56 Ada Heh... Sure, as long as those born without also happen to get the mix of poetic and logical ability required...
02:56 Ada And the interest to learn how half a hundred different operators work and interact.
02:57 Shihab Eh, life's rough. It's still more of-- wait, poetic ability?
02:58 Ada Sure. Programming is as much about writing elegantly as it is about logically considering all the options.
02:59 Ada If you can't do it elegantly, there's a lot of things that can't be done at all.
03:01 Shihab Hmmm. That's a good point. Probably. What I know about programming wouldn't fill half a page. But it's interesting to know that elegance is important; I'd always seen it as more... matter-of-fact, I suppose.
03:01 Shihab You're a techno-sort, then?
03:01 Ada Heh... Slightly, yes.
03:02 Ada Missing my desktop, it's currently wired into Tumult's head.
03:02 Shihab Er. I think I met Tumult, the other morning. She's-- wired up with your computer?
03:02 Shihab Oh, she-- Oh! She's an AI!
03:03 Ada And everyone seems to want to blame her on me, too.
03:03 Shihab ...Huh. Just when I think this place can't get any stranger.
03:03 Shihab Really? Why's that? And why "blame"? That's a pretty awesome accomplishment, if it was you. Or anyone, really.
03:04 Ada I didn't do it, really... *takes breath to dive into a canned rant *
03:04 Ada I was using the lab for cluster computing, is all.
03:04 Ada And then other people started poking at it.
03:05 Ada I was, at best, the third person to even talk to Tumult.
03:05 Shihab ...Er.
03:06 Shihab It'd be a bit crazy to blame it on you. Or, honestly, the other people. Weird things just sort of /happen/, here. It's easy to see why-- we've got a /horde/ of supernaturals, in every flavor. Obviously, reality's going to be a bit wonky.
03:06 Ada Yeah. Things I probably should have thought about before telling the entire lab to think really hard about magic, right?
03:08 Shihab Heh. Yeah, probably. Still, not the worst thing you could've done! I've just been informed that my flight experiments have been diagnosed by a self-proclaimed expert as the symptoms of a supernatural disease.
03:08 Ada Oooh...
03:08 Ada That sounds like it would take some doing.
03:09 Shihab Heh. Not really... I just applied the basic illusion spells we'd learned in Magic For Mages, modified a few, and applied them to various paper airplane-style things.
03:09 Shihab You know... "What could possibly go wrong?"
03:10 Ada ...Next time I do anything involving computers and magic, I'm renting server time in Wisconsin.
03:10 Ada A little bit of distance would probably make everything significantly safer.
03:11 Shihab Heh. Yeah, probably. You never know, though. Some crazy demon would probably find a way to hijack things.
03:11 Shihab mimics Verin's voice more or less perfectly
03:11 Shihab "I shall dominate the interwebs! Fear my viral powers!"
03:12 Ada ...Ye lords and little fishies...
03:12 Ada *is thoroughly amused *
03:13 Ada Sounds like Michelle, maybe.
03:13 Ada But more psychotic, if such a thing is possible.
03:14 Shihab Ah, you're not Terrified of The Evil Demon Halfling? He'd be very disappointed, I'm sure.
03:14 Ada He's the latest in a long series of loud idiots.
03:15 Ada Not caring is plan A when it comes to dealing with such people.
03:15 Shihab Urgh. That sounds about typical-- I guess they really are everywhere.
03:15 Shihab Who was Michelle?
03:15 Ada Former student - ex-military, or something. Tried to take control of Tumult, shot Less in the foot, and then tried to lie about the whole affair.
03:16 Ada She got put in her place pretty hard by the headmistress.
03:16 Shihab *makes a wry face* Yeah, I can imagine.
03:16 Ada Claimed to be an "expert hacker"... I could code circles around her any day.
03:17 Shihab Sounds like a piece of work. Who'd want to shoot Less, anyway?
03:17 Ada Her.
03:17 Ada When he didn't immediately tuck his tail between his legs and do what she said.
03:18 Shihab Hmph. Guess I should be glad I wasn't around for that. It wouldn't have ended well.
03:19 Shihab At least Verin's easy to mess with. *grins mischievously* Especially, I think, if a certain Groundskeeper begins thinking he's involved in acts of destruction.
03:19 Ada Ooh, that would end well.
03:20 Ada ...hypothetically, for those who don't particularly like him.
03:20 Ada (to self: I will not do something stupid again. I will not do something stupid again...)
03:21 Shihab I'm hoping! He gets into a mini-war with the Groundskeeper, the Groundskeeper is distracted into war with him, and I get to sit back and laugh. Everybody wins!
03:22 Shihab Well. I win, theoretically. One of them probably loses.
03:24 Ada Ooh, ouch.
03:24 Shihab Something stupid?
03:24 Ada Um...
03:25 Ada *tries to look innocent, fails and gives up *
03:25 Ada The last group of stupid idiots I had to deal with?
03:25 Ada East Lake High's Video Game Club.
03:25 Ada And the football team.
03:25 Ada And the cheer squad.
03:25 Ada And about half of the school administration.
03:26 Shihab ...Ouch indeed.
03:26 Ada Yeah. Nobody proved anything, but the parents decided that turning half the school into a swamp once was more than enough.
03:27 Shihab Hah! That is pretty awesome retribution.
03:27 Ada That was just the /start/ , too.
03:28 Ada Remember that experiment where they had people think they were shocking actors?
03:28 Ada Replace 'shock' with 'soak' and 'actors' with 'other people'.
03:28 Shihab Wow. Remind me never to get on your bad side...
03:29 Ada And the parents decided that as I'd decided to carry an umbrella to school on a sunny day, clearly, I was involved. Not just being prepared.
03:30 Shihab Heh. Parents, always the ultimate in unreasonable conclusions. Hey, do you want to help me search out Less's den? It's got to be somewhere around here, but the boy's got... interesting ideas of what's in "plain sight."
03:33 Ada Sounds interesting.
03:33 Ada I can't help but wonder how long beach sand stays structural, though...
03:34 Shihab Well, if anybody could build a den in this stuff, it's him. But as long as we don't have some kind of Vorpal Sand Demons or something-- which, unfortunately, is rather likely-- we should be fine.
03:34 Shihab sets off down the beach
03:35 Ada Vorpal... sand demons?
03:35 Ada You kill them by letting them chop off your head?
03:36 Shihab Hey, it's possible! Especially on -this- beach.
03:36 Ada The whole area seems to be in some kind of reality distortion field, that's for sure.
03:37 Shihab Yeah, I think I'm okay with that.
03:38 Ada puts foot into opening of den, slides down into it
03:38 Ada ...found it.
03:38 Shihab peers down, raising an eyebrow
03:39 Shihab Apparently.
03:39 Ada Hmm. The pit walls are starting to erode, but the main den seems intact.
03:40 Shihab rummages in his pocket, tosses down a more-or-less spherical rock, glowing softly
03:40 Shihab That's a good thing. D'you see a fire pit?
03:41 Ada Wouldn't want to have a fire down here...
03:41 Ada Too enclosed.
03:42 Shihab Yeah. I was hoping he had some kind of a setup. Chimney, or the like.
03:42 Ada Hmm. We might have to dig our own, then.
03:43 Shihab Yeah-- but I'd rather not do it without him around. Want to head back to the school? He's probably around, somewhere.
03:45 Ada Probably a good idea.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less clambered down the cliff wall, a freshly-repaired drying rack carefully held in his arms. It had taken far too long to fix in his opinion. Curse the lack of good leather around these parts! As he rounded a corner made by a largish rock, he noticed the students examining his den.

"Hey!" he called out, resisting back his immediate response to a territorial intrusion. "What are you doing?"

[Susan Daunt]

"We're here to set up the bonfire we all planned," countered Susan from near the pile of supplies, a few whisps of blonde hair escaping from her hood, "You volunteered the use of your 'den' I think?"

She offered a big smile to werwolf, resisting the impule to go for the knife she had sheathed at her back. Strictly just in case, mind you.

[Damien Griffiths]

Damien, wrapped in at least three sweaters, a thick coat, what looked liked skiing boots and thick trousers, topped with a scarf, a woollen hat and thick gloves, came trudging down the track.

"'lo all, 'm I early?" His voice was muffled by the thick layers of clothing. One could call it chilly outside, but not so insanely freezing cold that it'd warrant this much dressing up. "I brought som' 'mellows for the fire. Stuck 'em in my bookcase for now."

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

"Hey Damien!" Less called out as he set the drying rack down to rest on the sand. He blinked a bit when he saw just how bundled up the other boy was, but took it in stride. With a grunt, he began digging in front of the den entrance. "I'm glad you'll be joining us. Will someone help me with this? The rain made the sand fill in my pit again. I should have used bigger rocks when lining it. Just stop when you hit rock."

[Shihab]

"Sure thing, Less!" He leapt into the pit and began to dig as well, using both hands-- and if they began to look flat, and a bit shovel-shaped, well, he was moving fast and the lighting was dim-- 'twas surely an optical trick.

"Hey, Damien!" Shihab grinned and waved, raising an eyebrow at the layers. "You wearin' enough there, mate? Hey, if you're cold, you could always help us dig to warm up!"

((OOC: I should mention, this is just the setting-up stage. The bonfire proper is Saturday Night, Shihab just wanted a few people there Friday to get everything started, and I figured the more time we have to generate feedback and interest, the better, what with the activity levels lately.))

[Damien Griffiths]

"Can I help with 'at? I don' wanna be in the way or som'thing."He moved over to the others, looking for a way to help out. "I could get some wood, too, if you need 'nymore."

((ok, then I'll crop out the marshmellows being here, he'll have left them at the dorm.))

[Susan Daunt]

"Why stop at rock if that's not deep enough?" Susan asked, walking over to the future firepit, "Give me fifteen minutes to duck back to my room for my weapons and I'll carve you any-shaped hole you need."

She grinned up at her classmates, one hand on her hip, and obviously eager to help.

[Shihab]

Shihab raised an eyebrow. "I think Less is saying he's already got a firepit dug here, and it collapsed-- the rocks are the border of what he has dug out." Ironically, as he reached in to shove the next load of sand, his hands hit solid rock-- one of the stones used to line the firepit-- and he grinned. "Like so. Building a new firepit... we can do it, but it'll take a lot longer than we probably want to get one that's going to be safe."

He looked from the stone to Less curiously. "Hey, did you carry all these in, or just dig under the sand to get them?"

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less scooped out another armful of sand and sat up to look at Shihab. "They were carried. It would be strange if a set of rocks naturally formed a half-sphere in the ground." He grimaced as a puff of sand fell back in the hole. "Not used to sand. It flows much more easily than good, hard dirt. Hopefully the fire will harden it a bit."

[Shihab]

Shihab laughed and scraped a bunch of loose sand off of the outer rim.

"Hey, don't knock it too much! That's my natural habitat you're digging, there." He considered it with a slight frown. "It's too bad I didn't think of the problem sooner-- a very specific wind spell would probably take care of this pretty easily." Shrugging, he pulled a normal-sized handful out of the pit and sifted it. "I dunno, though, it's an odd sort of sand. Very... odd."

"So! We've got a location, we've got a firepit, and we've got a handful of not-insane and hopefully somewhat responsible people in case the guano hits the cylinders." He jumped to his feet enthusiastically and grinned at them all. "Susan brought the supplies down, and the forecast for tomorrow night is fair enough weather. What's left?"

[Damien Griffiths]

"Party?" Damien shrugged. "I mean, noth'n' much else t' do here."

[Shihab]

"Ayah, sounds like a plan!"

Aaaand with that, things move to the Bonfire! thread. Yay?