#Riverhymn

[tare-otome]

Riverhymn

The lights glowed like fireflies~

[elliott6669]

Scenery: Riverhymn

[r4d14t3lov3]

Somewhere over there

She missed him terribly. It was too late to call, it'd be selfish to wake him, so she quickly dismissed that notion. Instead, she quietly made her way up the winding walkway to the majestic tree from where she had a perfect view of the mountain that housed The Base. She couldn't make out the fire of course, but it was good to know he was over there somewhere.

Little did she know that Kotallo sat by the pool looking out East to where he knew Riverhymn was. Sleep eluded him once again, her absence leaving him restless and cold.  Perhaps he'd send a message, so he wouldn't wake her.

[robo-dino-puppy]

horizon forbidden west | riverhymn

[forbiddenwestern]

If you could live in any HFW settlement which would you pick?

[horizonedits]

RIVERHYMN

[journeyofaloy]

Riverhymn ♥

[horizon-forbidden-sheesh]

HFW: Realistic Gameplay

I'm not sure how many people do this, but I like to approach my HFW gameplay to make the experience as realistic as possible. Here are a few of the considerations I keep in mind while playing to ensure my timeline is accurate to the game's storyline. :)

[⚠️ Warning! Some light spoilers are referenced ahead.]

ON SLEEP:

How long can Aloy reasonably go without sleep? Maybe 48 hours, but the high-intensity work she does requires dexterity & focus, so her accuracy & analytical abilities diminish the longer she's awake.

When she's desperate, or thiiiiis close to her goals, she likely gets tunnel vision, and gameplay gets a bit sloppier. (ie. Latopolis 😬)

Plus, the world is way more DANGEROUS for people at night! Humans are not a naturally nocturnal species, even if Aloy's stealth approach excels in the cover of darkness. She's also probably a little ~off~ in her circadian rhythm because she's one of a very few future humans exposed to blue light, lol.

ON FOOD:

Let's assume she's fed when she stays at any given settlement, but out in the wilds, she should be eating every day.

This means with a small food pouch, she can really only be out in the wilds for ~3 days without having to hunt her own meals. (Which no doubt, she can do, but do your really think Aloy has the time or patience to be cooking while she's saving the literal world? Nah.)

ON TRAVEL:

Along the way, I have to ask myself: how much does the side quest matter? How time-sensitive is it? Is it already on her existing route?

I try to WALK through settlements to A) not appear insane, B) accurately simulate the time she would actually spend there.

Can she really sprint all day long?? In this house, we jog. ("most humans can store about 20 miles’ worth of glycogen in their muscles." - NYT)

I don't love riding machines unless it's a long distance or an urgent situation. (ie. Sprinting back to the Base from Tilda's house) The reason for this is because:

A) you alert literally every machine around you, and I prefer to play a stealth approach

B) Riding is associated with Rebel activity, so you'd likely meet resistance from Tenakth locals.

C) not every path is cut out for riding (ie. On Lowland paths, her steed is likely too heavy & might get mired in the swamp / Riding in the Desert during the day, the metal would burn the everliving sh*t out of her.)

ON WEATHER:

In the Desert, I try to sleep during the day & travel at night. It's way too hot to be out during the height of day—even if it's around late October when she's there.

A little rain never hurt anybody, but major storms require cover & a wait-out period. I once got stuck in Sky's Sentry for half a day while I waited for an AETHER-driven storm to die down.

In my gameplay, it's November when Aloy turns up in Sky Clan territory (Yosemite Valley) which means it's freezing at night!

ON TIME:

I track calendar days while I'm playing to make sure I'm within GAIA's estimated ~3 month climate collapse timeline estimate. (Note that she doesn't give this estimate until Aloy discovers the Base, a little over 1 month into gameplay.)

Aloy is probably stuck in Stone's Echo for ~2 weeks healing her ribs. "Most broken ribs heal on their own within six weeks" (Mayo Clinic) But there's no way Aloy has that kind of patience. PLUS I'd bet big money when GAIA made her, she was given some cool genetic boosts that make her heartier than most naturally-born humans. In my game, I took her on some pretty chill missions back to Chainscrape afterward to give her more time to heal.

The game is literally set up to have us experience the seasons as we navigate the world over ~4-6 months!! (ie. The trees are changing color in Chainscrape when we begin in early Autumn / The Riverhymn side quest tells us it's the first of the winter bloom / There is snow in Yosemite Valley.)

From Embassy to Singularity, my gameplay took 132 Days (~4 months). I still have some side quests & errands to finish up, so if you try and complete all tasks before the Singularity, you're probably looking at 5-6 months total.

Okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my noggin, but I'd really love to hear if anyone else has some rad realistic constraints they like to add to the game! :)

[jamminsamart]

seasonal com for Riverhymn on twitter!

[thessalian]

Thess vs Slitherfangs

Slightly different deal than I was expecting this morning...

Over to Tide's Reach I go--

Ah. So apparently I can't even do this one yet. Because Reasons. I must pick something up in the next few bits of main quest that'll let me.

...is it wrong that I want to chase these guys by overriding a Tideripper?

Anyway. I guess I should head over in the direction of Fall's Edge for main quest--

Wait. There's that new mention of Tremortusk site on the map over in the desert area. I should double-check a thing...

That says Slitherfang Site.

THAT SAYS SLITHERFANG SITE I GO.

Okay. Carefullyyyyyyyyyyy ... I have so many problems with these things... Set up a blast trap just in case aaaaaaaaaand... POONK.

...Sooooooooooo maybe I don't have so many problems with these things when I have prep time. Huh.

AND I'M SHORT ONE SLITHERFANG EARTHGRINDER. Fuck you.

...Maybe I should see if that other site is spitting out Slitherfangs.

IT IS! HUZZAH! I GO!

That one went down even easier. Nice. Now. Directly to a workbench. No dawdling.

NEW UPGRADE ON MY SPIFFY STEALTH ARMOUR! Now, what do I need next?

...Apex Slitherfang heart. Riiiiiiiiiiight. Can I set the clock to night here?

What do you mean, "Unavailable"? The one time I want to use that mechanic, you won't let me?!?

Fine. I'll just wait for night to happen on its own and fast travel. Meantime, I should head to Fall's Edge. Buuuuuut I should also get that one campfire between desert and jungle. I can start from ... this campfire here.

Aaaaaaaaand I tripped right into an errand. Huh. Tenakth lady wants word of her old crush and a flower delivery. I could use something low-stakes, sure.

I could shoot the everything while picking these flowers, but let's see how good my stealth chops really are.

...Pretty damn good, apparently. And over to Plainsong.

Plainsong is so beautiful now. Everything sings.

Lao, Ven ... you guys are adorable. Lao especially. So enthusiastic.

And ... Riverhymn, huh? Okay.

Ah. Well, at least Tenakth lady will know.

Aww. Her granddaughter is adorable too. A little tsundere, but hey. She's Tenakth.

Now. Campfire, work. And then, I will go on a night hunt for Slitherfangs.

I woke up this morning with my left outer thigh aching like someone hit it with a car. I have no idea why. But I have to work like this, sooooo...

[bluntblade]

writing patterns tag game

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

Thank you @sinvulkt for the tag ☺️

*** ** * ** ***

1. A Storm to Meet the Darkness (The Horus Heresy, Warhammer 40K)

The ship gleamed in Sol’s light, above the Skye orbital plate. 

2. Under Saturnine (The Horus Heresy, Warhammer 40K)

“I had not envisaged a techmarine among the kill-teams,” Rogal Dorn stated, as blunt and uncompromising as any of the walls he’d fashioned.

3. A Last Chance (Star Wars Prequel Era, Dooku: Jedi Lost)

In the final analysis, it really wasn't fair. None of it was.

4. The Spirits We Carry (Horizon) Talanah/Nakoa, Nakoa/Marea

Journeying west through the western Sundom was hazardous, even with the Sun Carja and the Tenakth enjoying a wary peace. Where once columns of soldiers had filed, now dangerous Machines stalked among the trees. 

5. How No One Stole Life Day (thanks to Osohla and Zudea and friends) (Star Wars, post-Sequels) Osohla/Zudea

It was the night before Life Day and as the poem had it, all was silent.

6. The Ghosts of Jakku (Star Wars Sequels) Rey/Kaydel

Rey hadn’t actually taken time to look back at Jakku when she left it.

7. Stars' Flight (Star Wars: Lost Stars) Thane Kyrell/Ciena Ree

Ciena Kyrell, once Ciena Ree, had heard plenty of people ask what the New Republic did with its revenue, if its fleet was so sparse where the Empire's had been so massive, so domineering.

8. Hunter's Hymn, Healer's Lament (Horizon)

The village of Riverhymn, tucked away as it was in the northwestern hills of the Utaru lands, was usually quiet.

9. Ryloth Besieged (Star Wars)

Major Blyer Towast of the First Order surveyed the world below him and cursed his fortune, just as he did every morning.

10. Lost in Stardust (Star Wars: Lost Stars/Original Trilogy) Thane Kyrell/Ciena Ree

Above Scarif, Thane felt a different kind of weightless than usual, as his squadron followed the reverberations of the Death Star's onslaught. 

*** ** * ** ***

Patterns, I guess 🤔 if not one overiding pattern. I like to create a little intrigue, and set out a setting and a character's emotional state early on. And if I can hook the reader with something evocative, I'll jump at the chance.

Now for some no-pressure tags:

@tjerra14 @foibles-fables @mehoymalloy @dreaminghour

[tare-otome]

In Bloom

After meandering back into the Shining Wastes, i happened upon an older Tenakth woman, Derikka, and her granddaughter Teikka. Derikka is reminiscing about the flowers and her old love, an Utaru man named Nilo, and we are tasked with finding his whereabouts with a gift of Scarletstems, Nilo's favorite flower...

Derikka amicably bathes in her wistful nostalgia...

Meanwhile Teikka scoffs with all the sass of any teenager...

We travel to Plainsong only to find out that Nilo had moved to Riverhymn some time ago...

We travel to Riverhymn and find a girl, Jia, kneeling by Nilo's grave, Scarletstems all around. Jia is Nilo's daughter, and says he had died 5 years prior... We must go back to tell Derikka what we found...

We find Derikka and Teikka and tell them what we learned. Derikka takes the news with grace, and at least she gets closure.

I liked this quest; we all probably have these thoughts of "what if" thinking about the different paths our lives could have gone in.

[singingkestrel]

I really am a sucker for glowy lights.

[r4d14t3lov3]

Chapter 16 is finally up.

From late in chapter 16:

Over on the rich lawns beside the settlement’s gate a group of children were playing with a ball Fashav knew to be woven of reed and softened with moss. When they saw him draw nearer they raced towards him, greeting him cheerfully, bouncing up and down, dancing around him.

“Marshal! Marshal!” they called, and joined him the rest of the way, chatting lively. 

Fashav’s heart lifted a bit, and he bent to pick up the little girl who always clung to him whenever he visited. 

She threw her small arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. “I’m so happy you’re back, Marshal Fashav,” she whispered into his ear. 

Fashav smiled, warmth spreading through him, though it broke his heart at the same time, tears burning in his eyes unexpectedly. 

Fashav carried her through Riverhymn’s gate, the kids clouding around and in front of him like a great entourage, his guards walking off to find food and rest. 

People turned and waved, Fashav said many hellos and gave one-armed hugs, the little girl still holding on tight. 

Fashav saw her long before Nel even turned from the commotion the children were causing in the settlement. There she stood in all her slender beauty, her dark hair shining, her shoulders a bit sunkissed; she had probably spent too much time under yesterday’s cloudless sky. 

His heart skipped a beat when their eyes met, her face lighting up with such joy and a glow on her cheeks he hadn’t seen before. She was positively radiant. 

Nel clapped her hands over her mouth and nose in disbelief, then came running towards him. Apologizing to the little girl, he sat her down, then caught Nel in his arms, as she came flying towards him, twirling her around and around, their noses buried in the other’s neck.

“Oh, my darling,” Fashav whispered, and Nel wrapped her legs around his waist, holding on, never wanting to let go. 

“I have missed you so,” she whispered back, her hands cupping his face, her lips inching closer to his. 

“And I have missed you,” Fashav said, as their lips finally met.

[robo-dino-puppy]

view of plainsong

[forbiddenwestern]

Riverhymn