Valentine Pilman - Kamchatka Guide

[Steerpike]

Pilman groans inwardly...barely 5 mins in and already the kids are wanting to know "are they there yet"
"Well hello Oleg...well it'll be a while yet sorry...say an hour and we should be at the foothills"

[Laraqua]

Glebka turns on her walkman without putting the ear plugs in her ears and the music flows into the car:

Background Music.

"Okay fine," says Oleg.

The two children turn to each other and start playing a hand-slapping kid's game.

"Darkness grows,
As your nose does knows,
Purple prose,
Whenever snows,
Your mother knows,
Your purple toes,
Get off the hoes,
It hurts your toes!"

Followed by:

"City breathes,
And the city bleeds,
A Moscow night,
A hero's fright..."

The two faux-gasp as though suddenly shocked.

"Morloch's asleep,
He goes beep-beep,
You're only meat,
He says we're sheep..."

"C'mon kids," says their father. "We have a long journey. Play your Gameboys or something."

"I guess..." says Glebka.

[Steerpike]

Pilman grimaces briefly, knowing that this trip is most likely going to feel like a long drawn out week rolled into a day. He glances over Lubov and examines the camera

"So tell me...this is hardly the usual place for a family outing...what decided you on a trip here, rather than...say...euro disney?"

[Laraqua]

"We have, shall we, say, a macarbe curioisity? Even the children are more prone to seeing a wax museum than euro disney," says Lubov.

[Steerpike]

Pilman smiles and nods as if in agreement and turns his attention back to the road
"More likely it's a wierd dad dragging his kids to see those macabre curios than have a decent family holiday" He thinks to himself as glances over at the camera "Then he subjects his neighbours to a belt-fed projector of his holiday snaps!"

[Laraqua]

The rest of the drive passes by in a relatively easy silence. The last signs of civilization begins to fall away as he follows the road further into the mountainous regions of Kamchatka. In the distance, steam flows from a crack upon the mountainside, causing one of the children to lean forward, pressing against the glass.

Later, they cross a bridge over a clear stream and the children coo at the sight of a bear that sips at the water, a few hundred yards from the bridge itself.

Pilman looks over at the signs. Only an hour's drive to the outskirts of the geysers. It will take six hours to drive to the Mikhov town that marks the halfway point between here and the Nameless Mountain. There would be a lot of driving. But then, it was a lot of money. He couldn't be sure how well the children would go and how long it would take for the children to become irritable and bored. He might need to devise some sort of plan in order to keep them from getting on his nerves.

[Steerpike]

Thinking on it...he realises that he really does not want any distractions or long delays to humour children, that will simply result in the trip taking longer. Pilman suspects the Kids will act up at some point on the road to the village but he will just have to play it by ear. He then advises the "party" that it is time to head off now and make their way to the Geysers...this part of the trip he is not really looking forward to...the mudslides had done a lot of damage to the region.

[Laraqua]

They stand and view it from a distance, as close as Valentine can safely make it. It's still beautiful, even after the mud slides, and there is a certain quiet that fills the air, bringing gentle smiles to everyone's faces. The more pleasant news is that as a result of the landslide some ground sites with incredible colour scheme have been exposed. The colour scheme is formed with light blue and red loam.



"Wow, this is truly amazing," says Mr. Lubov. "So what happened to the geysers?"

[Steerpike]

"Well some time back two geysers were buried as a result of a landslide from a slope in the middle part of the Valley" Valetine points in the direction to allow Lubov to take more pictures
"The landslide covered the Geysernaya River which caused a natural dike to form and the water flooded Geyser Valley. So now some geysers were covered with water"
Pilman now on full guide mode motions the small party to follow him as he makes a circuit of the damaged valley.
"Scientists say that the water is going up about 5 meters a day, most of this has already gone over the dike and the rest of the geysers that are further up the canyon are not going to be flooded. They are hoping and praying that the dike will be weakened by the hot water and burst open allowing the flooded geysers to become active again"

"Now whatever you do do not step on the grass...it is very dangerous, hut burning acidic mud lies below it, and you could sink into it up to your ankles...I know a few spots were a local plant called wormwood grows...it doesn't like the mud...you can picnic there if you like but nowhere else...and that goes for you" Pilman directs this last statement to the children smiling as he does so - Don't want to scare the little angels he thinks to himself

[Laraqua]

"Can we really picnic?" asked Oleg.

"We did bring food," says Lubov, looking at Pilman.

Present for you,for doing your background research, I'm going to highlight three appropriate skills as 'checked' as it's not fair for you to not get the opportunity of a successful roll simply by your own knowledge and skill. By the next chapter, you'll get to roll for improvements in them. I chose to check off your Natural History, Navigate, and Geology skills.

[Steerpike]

Pilman smiles and looks for a spot well away from the slopes leading down to the water, but still commanding a good view.
spotting one he motions for the family to follow him. "You can picnic over here"

[Laraqua]

Lubov heads over to the vehicle and withdraws a basket weighed down by food. He brings it over to them and they make their way over sturdier ground to sit amongst the wormwood and the family looks around at the sights as they eat.

"Beautiful," says Glebka.

Birds fly overhead in a flock. The same species that were nailed to his cupboard doors.

[Steerpike]

He watches the birds fly past and considers the mornings events. A slight pang of guilt for thumping the old man, it should have been the others he was talking about who should been on the business end of his fists. Leaving the family to get on with their picnic he does a quick circuit around the area, checking his watch every now and then.

[Laraqua]

They enjoy the meal and the view, taking several photographs, and then it's time to head to the little town that is the last stop before reaching that mountain. He realizes that if they kept driving, they could be at the foothills and back at that little town before night fell. It would save him time enough to get back to Petropavlosk shortly after noon as he could enforce a deadline on leaving before it got too dark. If he saved the trip to the foothills for tomorrow, they'd probably keep him out there for hours.

His decision somewhat depended on how much time he wanted to spend on the foothills.

[Steerpike]

Pilman decides that a night in the town would be ideal. He could get a decent meal and something to drink and get away from the family. Lubov's family in turn could "ooh & ahh" around the little town in the morning and the little gift shops. Probably spend lunch time there...then head to the foothills and be back before dark.

With the decision made he heads back to the little group to corral them back into the Jeep.

[Laraqua]

The night turns out much as he expected. By the time he gets there, the family are thrilled to get out and stretch their legs. The food there is better than that which he packed and the town is built in such an old-fashioned, pre-communist style that it draws all of the requisite giggles and gasps. He is allowed to leave them to their own devices and he sits, finishing his meal, as they hurry off to take photographs of nocturnal mountains. His dog sits and sniffs around the well, seeming overly interested in the old, bricked-up well.

[Steerpike]

He wanders over to were trip is and examines the well briefly while attaching his dogs lead.

[Laraqua]

The well has a strange, musty smell coming from it, like mildew mixed with dust. There are a number of old, weathered boards that have been nailed over its gaping mouth. It appears there are a number of words etched into the wood. He doesn't recognize the language. He hears something inside the well. It's a strange tittering sound interwoven with bizarre croaking, like a mix between an insect and some kind of frog. He has no idea what kind of local fauna would make that noise.

[Steerpike]

He listens for a few seconds more thinking it to be acoustics and nothing more, but on an impulse he wanders over to a local shop and gets a postcard and a pencil. Wandering back to the well he sits on the edge of the well and copies the writing out on the card. Pilman then puts it in his wallet, wondering who on earth he could pass it on to?

He then leaves the square to arrange room and board for his party for the night.

[Laraqua]

This town doesn't have a hotel but from experience he knows that there is a two-story house that rents two rooms and even a couch, if necessary, to tourists-in-the-know. It's a nice little homely place, built in a very Russian style, with a lovely little garden that flowers brightly in the spring. It's a bit of a walk (about 20 minutes) but the family are now sitting around the little general store that is what passes for a cafe in this tiny town and they seem content enough to sit and chat. He could bring them all along with him, or take a short drive, or go for a walk to stretch his own legs better.