Day 094: Night Bright
Summary: A combined night hunt between Skaikru and Trikru to demonstrate night-vision goggles.
Date: 31 August 2016
Related: Seeing Eye to Eye
Grey Sage Khesu Nathaniel Fayet 


Wilderness, Lake Audo/Arkadia
Open territory, and then forest.
94 Days After Landing

Dusk is just falling as Grey waits midway between New Coesbur and Camp Jaha, a red-tinted flashlight illuminating the ground before him. He has a series of padded cases with him, and another Guardsman hanging around to watch over them while the group is out on the hunt. He's out of his armor, however, given that this is a hunt and an off-duty-ish one at that, having exchanged any technological weapons for a trio of rough-made javelins and the ever-present homemade knife at the back of his belt. He hasn't addressed the other Skaikru directly, focused on checking over the precious night-vision-goggles time and again, but as motion starts to approach from New Coesbur, he gathers up his javelins, stands up, and gives a little wave of the red light, "Heya. C'mon over."

It is the red light that causes one of the horses to pull up from the path to Cosbur. Sage is settled there with her bladed staff across her back, dagger, bow and other such weapons making no nose as she stops to dismount and lead the horse towards where Grey and the others happen to be. She is silent but gives a nod in the setting sun and simply watches the Skaikru curiously.

Khesu arrives in the general area, having had his orders from Britt to come and show up, even if he's … sketching on what -precisely- the Skaikru have in mind. This Trikru has rigged up a black piece of leather to wear as an eye patch over his left eye though still unused to it, Khesu keeps pausing to lift a hand and flip it up, trying to see if he can see anything with his bad eye to help him along. Dark isn't a lot of fun for him right now, but he manages to see Grey's strange light and heads that way with a hair of caution. Once he can make out that it /is/ Grey, his niece's Houman, he gives the other man a silent nod in greeting and stops messing with his eye covering. For now. Sage has probably been keeping tabs on his progress to arrive anyway.

Every single time he goes for a hunt, Nathaniel desperately wishes he could at least keep a pistol with him… but it is alas not to be. Like Grey, Nathaniel keeps a couple dozen Javelins in a quiver for hunts. These look fairly makeshift, having been hand carved… but effective. With Richael busy with her lab, Nathaniel made sure that he'd get an off-duty shift for this one. His outfit is all green, except for the hunting boots. Being one of those who routinely go hunting on his own, doing so with partners will be interesting.

He makes no attempt to remain stealthy as he approaches the area, and inspects those already within sight. The first thing to catch Nathaniel's attention? That bad eye that Khesu has. He says nothing about it for a moment… then, "tough break." Giving a nodding gesture to indicate said eye, before he looks to Grey. "if they manage to sprout legs and walk away, let me know." Definitely a teasing tone there.

The dreadlocked carpenter normally does not go out for hunts, but she couldn't resist the opportunity to see the Skaikru toys in action. She walks softly through the woods with her bow and arrow, making the decision to stick to Khesu's blind side. She doesn't comment to the Skaikru, but she watches them curiously.

Grey snorts at Nathaniel's words, although at least it's a good-natured sort of snort, "If they sprout legs and walk away, I'm tellin' Britt and lettin' her sort it out. I'm sure the Trikru're more scared of her than they are of me." As the Trikru approach, he turns the red-tinted light down to the trio of cases laid open on the ground, where they can see the technological monoculars of night-vision goggles, "What we've got here are Mountain-claimed Enn-Vee-Gees. I figured we'd take turns usin' them, so you can compare how they work to how you normally do things." His teeth flash white in the dusk, and he adds, "We'll mostly be countin' on you to track down the game, since you know the area better'n us. I'll run down the benefits and downsides of Enn-Vee-Gees in a sec, but anyone have any questions off the bat?" Blinking, he clears his throat, "Oh… yeah, and I'm Grey, this is Nathaniel an' Tristan," the latter would be the Guardsman watching over the cases.

Sage whispers something to the horse as she behinds her ebony head up slightly to do so. She then pats the shoulder blade of the horse before she moves with grace if silent steps over to Fay and Khesu's side. THe later gets a touch on his shoulder but her attention is given to Grey and Nathaniel as she slowly looks up over both males curiously. When Grey makes the introduction she nods gracefully to each male before she speaks. "Enn-Vee-Gees?" She tastes the words slowly before she nods again. "I am Sage kom Trikru, Warrior.." The introduction is made as she slowly moves to where the cases are and slowly lowers herself to linger for a closer look. She does not touch them yet, but she does give this new and curious technology a once over as she waits for Grey to explain why or how they work. "What does your village need? Night hunting can bring large or small prey.." Her voice is deep and husky accented with her English but easy enough to understand.

Nathaniel he knows best here, so Khesu gives him an upnod ere he rumbles low in English, "I will adjust. You … coming back to help us with building?" He himself has been out of the cutting of timber for a while, since his second head wound complicated his progress. His baritone was kept very low as he studies Tristan, aware of Fayet on his bad side. Sage is watched briefly ere his attention goes back to Grey. A faint negative movement of his head. Khesu will wait until explanations have been made about this gear but he does add after Sage, "Khesu kom Trikru, and this is Fayet." Obviously also Trikru.

"Night vision goggles. En Vee Gee is short hand for them. Short version is they amplify the lighting conditions for your eyes so you can see in the dark. Long version is a bunch of technical babble we'd need an Engineer to come out here for." Nathaniel gives a grin to Sage, "the Camp could use everything it can get right now. We're still working on inventory and we don't have the benefit of other towns sending help. So…" Nathaniel shrugs, then looks to Grey, "I haven't checked, these are battery operated, right?" Nathaniel gestures with a nod to the goggles.

Fayet nods in greeting to Grey, Tristan and Nathaniel, the dreadlocks bound back by a scarf bobbing with the movement of her head. "Curious to see how your toys work," she says aloud, her voice sounding higher and younger than one would expect from the well-muscled Maker.

Khesu turns his head to look at Sage when she touched his shoulder. He then leans close and rumbles something low to her.

Grey gestures to Nathaniel as the Sergeant explains, "Figured we'd go lookin' for deer, since they're crap-sack-ular," That would be crepuscular, which is to say, most active during dusk, "but you guys are the experts." He nods to Nathaniel, "Yeah, these have rechargeable batts, uh, batteries. They charge up from our solar panels." Handing his flashlight over to Tristan, Grey reaches down for one set of the NVGs, pulling the straps around the back of his head and keeping the goggles themselves braced up on his forehead, "So. These things'll make the night as bright as a cloudy day, but they make everything shades of green, and they do a number on your depth perception. So I was thinkin' that we'd have some people without, to watch for prey and danger, an' then the rest wearin' them for trackin'. Questions, suggestions, thoughts?"

Sage nods slowly to what Khesu has said before she ponders Nathaniel's words. Finally she turns and makes her way back to the horse and gathers up a few very well made but small headed spears as she listens to what Grey has to say. The spears she passes to Khesu as she turns her attention back to the glasses and seems to ponder. "Turning the night green? That would mean you would have a hard time telling tree from grass.." This is pondered as she glances around the area they are in. "But Deer is possible Boar would be good as well. But there are larger and more dangerous prey in the area, we will not know till we find it. Fayet is a good watcher, let her see what she can see. Khesu as well.." This is said softly but it seems she thinks the others will listen. "While I am curious, I'd rather not mess with my hunting if the meat is needed. I'll liked to look at them before nights end, if you are still willing.." This towards the group of males. Though her eyes flicker more from Nath to Grey and back.

"Shades, not one shade. You can tell different parts of the color spectrum still. It's just the filter. Can't be helped." Nathaniel doesn't take one of the goggles yet, "you only need a few seconds to adjust to them. What takes a while is making up for the way they cut off a bit of vision with your ears." Nathaniel taps his earlobe, "so, just put them on, turn them on, check them out… and see if you can handle the initial adjustment."

Sage offers him a spear of his choice which Khesu eyes. He doesn't look certain whether he wants it or his bow but that depends on what they'll be hunting, or run into. His depth perception iffy already, he turns his one eyed attention on the NVG's Grey's illuminated with his strange red light. "I am curious of these things." For the moment he keeps one of the spears. Khesu has no idea how to put the things on and watches Nathaniel.

Fayet offers Khesu a thinner scarf. "This one might be more comfortable to wear over your eye," she says softly, resting her bow on the toe of her boot.

"Oh, we'll stay out long enough for everyone to get a chance, Sage kom Trikru." Grey gestures toward the other two cases, then dips his head a bit, where the ruddy glow of Tristan's flashlight can shine over the top of the goggles. He points to a simple, recessed button, "This turns them on and then off again. You'll want 'em turned on before you put 'em on, 'cause otherwise you won't see bupkiss." And then he explains, "…won't see anything." He pushes the button, then pulls the goggles down over his eyes, blinking in the sudden green blaze of light, "Oh yeah, and don't look at anythin' too bright. The goggles'll damp it down, but you can still ruin your vision for a bit. Fayet, Khesu, Tristan and Nathaniel'll show you how it goes on. Then we can get started, yeah?"

"Bupkiss. I'll have to remember that one." Indeed, it doesn't take long for Nathaniel to grab one, then head over to the Grounders before he brings it up and puts it over his eyes. It's definitely not a practiced motion, but he knows what he's doing. "They can go on your forehead for storage," Nathaniel pulls them up a bit, then releases… allowing them to stay, "and easily put into place again." They're dropped back down, before Nathaniel brings up a hand to one side of them, and points his finger to a spot on them, "this is the on/off switch. Just press it." He does so, and he shakes his head a little, "woah, bit lighter than I remembered." Then he presses the button again, and offers his set out, "just remember to look at a darker area before you turn them on."

Sage nods slowly to Grey and seems to simply watch the area as well Khesu and Fay when they ar given the goggles. Her silver almost glow as the light slowly fades and then lashes block them from sight as she turns and watches Nath as he tries on the glasses. Silent for a long time before she speaks again. "Night hunts are not always about sight. Maybe with the goggles it will be different. But sound and smell take over and they are senses I've found useful to follow.." This is said almost as she ponders. Sage then shifts her bladed staff from her back and places it point down and leans on it as she takes a deep breath. "With this much noise we might need to walk for a bit before the hunt can begin.."

Fayet's scarf is declined politely now he's swapped out to a piece of black leather for an eye patch. Khesu says something low to her in Trigedasleng about owing her the return of one already. Unless Sage puts a hand out first, he will accept the strange goggles from Nathaniel. The spear can be leaned against his shoulder to free up his hands and see how it fits - if it puts too much pressure either on the stitches at the back of his head, or the still tender bone of his left brow, he probably can't wear it. But he /can/ turn it on and hold it up to his face to look around for a long, long moment to get some idea of how it could augment his good eye in the darkness. Possibly Nathaniel can assist him with the fit. "Aye," he nods to what Sage says.

Fayet puts one hand on her hip, watching the goggle demonstration. She glances around and says, "So are we going to sit here and look at things, or are we going to hunt?" Her tone isn't sarcastic as much as eager to get moving and see how things work.

Grey waits until the Trikru are testing out the goggles, then adds, "So, you can see that things look kinda… flat… but you get used to that a bit. I figured it'd be good for trackers to use these, while people actually lookin' for prey didn't have 'em." He nods to Sage, "So they can focus on sound and smell and stuff." He chuckles a bit at Fayet, gesturing to the Trikru, "Whenever you're ready." Looking carefully back to Tristan, he notes, "We'll come on back to Camp Jaha with the goggles, man. Thanks for handlin' the cases." The other Guard nods, then closes them up and heads back toward camp, taking the red light with him.

Sage does not seem to be reaching for a pair as clearly she is still going to wait till it's over to take her turn if her words from before were true. But at Fayet's words, she arches an eyebrow slowly and motions towards a pair of the goggles. "Fayet, why don't you put a pair on if your curious and you can be one of the look outs for the trail.." She then stretches slowly and waits for whoever will have the goggles before she moves out. A nod is given to Tristan as well before her eyes flicker towards Khesu and if he can wear them she walks to his side before she speaks again. "Let me know if anything is missed.." Another touch to his shoulder and she starts to move, slowly and silently moving into the darken grasses and into the trees.

"It is … very strange. You should both have at least a brief look ere we begin." Khesu encourages both women to at least take a peek! Freaky. He keeps turning his head this way and that. Having managed to find the means he can wear them at least for a little while until his brow is likely to get to aching, the male Trikru Warrior is ready to move out and see if the goggles can actually help him pick out any details like tracks, or other sign, in the darkness. Khesu is game to try, falling silent once more and starting to head north, carrying the spear.

<FS3> Khesu rolls Survival: Failure. (5 3 5 4 6 6 4 1)
<FS3> Nathaniel rolls Survival: Good Success. (1 8 1 7 4 1)
<FS3> Grey rolls Survival: Success. (1 6 5 7 1)
<FS3> Sage rolls Survival: Good Success. (4 5 7 6 5 1 7 5)
<FS3> Fayet rolls Survival: Success. (6 5 5 3 7 1 6)

Fayet gives the goggles a try. "Oh. Oh!" She grins, looking all the more girlish. "Can I wear these a while longer?" she asks softly, so as not to make too much noise.

It would appear that Khesu gets caught up in the whole looking around with the funky goggles thing and is distracted. Look at the water and around the lake, check out the texture of the tree bark, looking back at the others, then tipping his head back to look up at the stars… definitely distracted.

Sage blinks gently as she hears Fay and a flicker of a smile appears but the warrior is on the hunt and she moves with those silent steps into the growing darkness, pausing to kneel down and touch something in the dirt. Or more her fingers linger over some tracks before she reaches over and tugs once on Khesu's pants. "Khesu, how does this look?" She whispers this as she is clearly not paying attention that he might be sightseeing. Once she gets an idea of how it might look different, she raises again and motions towards Grey if he wants to take a look as well.

Grey turns his head this way and that, "Your vision's all narrowed in too, so be sure to keep movin' your head so you don't get all tunneled up." Khesu's way ahead of him on that though, and he chuckles quietly, moving forward along with the others, his spears well down low at his side.

Fayet and Grey are able to spot the trails of some possum-like critters, but it's Nathaniel and Sage who find the deer-trail.

When Grey is called over, he nods, "Nice. I bet we can follow those real easy now." He keeps his voice to a low hush, "Don't forget to look down now and then. Not bein' able to see down as easily can be real disorienting."

Fayet looks down, taking a few steps back. "Disorienting is right," she murmurs, getting her bearings.

When you only have one good eye to see with, it puts a whole new spin on 'tunnel' vision. Khesu's had to adjust by moving his head around a lot more than he's used to these past weeks already. He stops when Sage tugs on his clothing and tries to see what she and Grey are focused on. Khesu will drop back and let the others go ahead of him. For the moment he remains more interested in checking out the tech to make a report back to Britt, than hunting. Once they all get moving he works on being quiet, trying to get more used to the goggle's strange light.

Sage nods slowly as she stands again and moves on into the night. This is a semi large group for deer hunting but the Warrior does her best to make it work. Her nose twitches here and there and she pauses to run a finger over a broken limb but slowly she follows the trail and leads the others with her. Or at least maybe, it's possible they are distracted by the whole goggles in the green light.

<FS3> Grey rolls Stealth: Failure. (5 1 5 2 2 2 5)
Grey spends 1 luck points on Stealth, dang it..
<FS3> Grey rolls Stealth: Good Success. (6 8 5 2 3 7 2)
<FS3> Sage rolls Stealth: Success. (4 4 5 8 6 1 6 6 6)
<FS3> Khesu rolls Stealth: Good Success. (7 4 5 4 1 7 5 2 8 2)
<FS3> Nathaniel rolls Stealth: Failure. (1 1 2 6 6 4 6)
Nathaniel spends 1 luck points on I will *not* stop on that branch….
<FS3> Nathaniel rolls Stealth: Good Success. (4 3 7 2 3 4 8)
<FS3> Fayet rolls Stealth: Good Success. (7 2 3 6 7 7)

With the NVGs, it's easy to follow the trail further, although those without are certainly able to contribute too, especially finding the trail again when it goes cold in a rocky patch or a narrow stream. And with a little practice, it's actually easy enough to stay quiet in the dark. Eventually, the little group finds themselves at the edge of a clearing, with a pair of deer at the other edge, just at the outside of javelin range. To Nathaniel and Sage, they are shadows in the darkness, but the world is wide and dark around them. To Fayet, Khesu, and Grey, they stand out in bright relief against the foliage, their every motion clearly visible. However, they stand at the center of a circle of bright green, with no peripheral vision at all.

Sage pauses in the trees to judge the distance to the deer. Those silver eyes narrow slowly before she motions towards the side. It seems the warrior is going to circle around as if to flush the deer towards the others. As she moves Sage pulls her bow from her back and has it at a ready as her circling will push her farther outside spear range.

Fayet raises her bow and draws, aiming. She finds that the lack of peripheral vision makes it difficult to aim the way she's used to and she has to hold her head at a slightly uncomfortable angle.

Khesu very carefully Khesu works his way around well to the side of the others. He leans the spear he was carrying against a tree and slips off his bow to make it ready. The goggles make /everything/ so very strange. He slowly turns his head from side to side to look -all- around the area to see what is around them before he looks to see if the deer are still there and quiet, or now alert. Spread well out from the group, Khesu reaches a calloused hand back to draw and oh so very quietly, nock an arrow.

Really, he's more interested in check out the pros and cons of the tech and whether he can hit anything, but … Khesu slowly raise his bow.

Grey misses Sage's gesture as he gathers one spear in his right hand and the others two in his left. Looking aside, he reaches out to touch the back of Fayet's shoulder with the back of his hand, then Khesu's shoulder as well. He waits until they each looks over, and then points to the deer on the right, to her, to the deer on the left, then to himself and Nathaniel. That's about the point where he notices that Khesu and Sage have moved elsewhere and shrugs a little helplessly. Whispering, he adds, "On your shot." And then draws back one spear and waits.

<FS3> Sage rolls Alertness: Good Success. (3 8 5 8 3 1 8 2 6)

Sage turns back to notice that most missed or ignore her gestures. This causes the warrior to pause where she is, and so out of the way of bow and javelins. From her position, she waits to let the others have the first shot and then let's her arrow fly free.

Nathaniel spends 1 luck points on Javelins ftw.
<FS3> Nathaniel rolls Thrown+3: Success. (6 1 5 6 8 1 3 6 5)
<FS3> Fayet rolls Archery: Failure. (6 1 6 5 6)
<FS3> Grey rolls Thrown: Good Success. (8 1 3 8 1 5)
<FS3> Sage rolls Archery: Success. (8 6 6 6 1 1)
<FS3> Khesu rolls Archery-2: Good Success. (7 3 3 8 7 6 4)

The odd angle of Fayet's head throws off her aim. Her arrow goes somewhere south of Nebraska. She scowls and takes off the goggles.

Grey's greater experience with the goggles (or at least his recent re-training) evidently shines through, as he doesn't seem distracted by the little circle of vision. His spear whips forward, humming through the night air, and then he gets the disorientation as the motion sends his viewpoint down and to his left. When he looks up again, his spear has transfixed one of the deer, and the other is down with an arrow in it, while the other spear and two arrows either merely grazed their targets or missed entirely.

There's a tsk of the tongue from Nathaniel, who's been quiet otherwise the whole time, "I'm usually a bit closer for this, but at least I grazed em." Nathaniel starts to walk over to inspect the kills.

The goggles do make for limited sight but Khesu's only able to get the benefit of one lens anyway. He somehow still manages to fire the arrow with accuracy and strike one of the deer just as they brought their heads up and where starting to move! Khesu's arrow made by Benning nails it in the neck and whatever else strikes it, down it goes, flipping heels over head into the brush! His limited sight restricts his ability to see what happens to the other deer and Khesu looses track of it. A hand reaches up to pull off the goggles, but then he can't see shit! His eyes are adjusted to the brighter light of the goggles, not the night.

Grey pumps his fist silently, apparently not above celebrating a successful hunt, and then he remembers his own advice and scans about, making sure that they didn't miss a predator somewhere or anything like that. Only then does he advances across the clearing, shrugging slightly at Nathaniel, "We put them both down, that's all that matters, right?" There might be a little smugness to his tone, but he smothers it well. Finding the deer with the javelin in it, Grey crouches down by its neck, pulling out his knife and making sure the animal is dead. Then he retrieves his spear with a twist and a pull, "If people wanna trade goggles around, we can take these back and try one more?"

"I like them for moving, but not for shooting," Fayet declares, keeping the goggles up on her forehead for now.

Sage moves towards the kills and if none wish to she starts handling the other kill with hands that seem more than used to such work. She will be silent for the rest of the evening, simply gathering up the kill and carrying it to where it needs to go.

Khesu is happy to hand the goggles off to someone else. He's done with them and wants his eye to adjust back to the natural dark. When he isn't completely night blind and can see a little once more, he puts up his bow and draws his knife to move in and help with the deer. As usual, this Trikru doesn't say much. Let the others decide.

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