Meushell - Orc Flight

[Meushell]

Introduction: 

 

I returned last challenge, and this time, I'll actually do two in a row. Yea!

 

This is Michaela, my favorite orc. My victories are her progress to save the world from an unknown evil. My failures might just doom her. 

 

About me now. Hmm. Hiking trip coming up during this challenge. 

 

Main Quest: The Adventure Continues

(Full size at...

https://i.imgur.com/Pi4PqvS.jpg

Maybe it's just my phone, but copying and pasting seems to be best for actually getting the full size. If I just click, it takes me to a reduced version of the map.)

 

Michaela was captured and kept in a dungeon for a long time (while I was away from Nerd Fitness for a long while). She's made her escape, and now has met new people. She needs more training to continue her quest and find out why entire cities are being destroyed.

 

(Her story is a bit behind, so I'll catch her up here. Though I might just keep her behind a bit. That makes the writing easier. I know which way things are going for her that way.

 

Losing weight is my adventure. No XP here. Whatever comes off will come off.)

 

Quest 1: Becoming a Warrior

 

Michaela still needs hone her fighting skill.

 

(Strength training 3 days a week. Lack of training is how she was captured in the first place.

 

A = 12+ days total. Michaela earns respect from her new friends and trainers.

B = 10. Michaela earns respect with the people who matter.

C = 8. Michaela is tolerated in her practice.

D = 6. People are annoyed to see her. 

F = 4. No one will train her.)

 

Quest 2: Riding

 

Michaela begins learning to ride a drake.

 

(Bike riding. I'm so not in the habit of this anymore. I'll aim for twice and a half a week. This basically allows for twice the first two weeks and thrice in the last three weeks.

 

A = 10. Things are going well with the new drake. Amethyst (her homing drake) and the new one get along.

B = 9. There's some jealousy between the drakes.

C = 8. The new one isn't affectionate with Michaela.

D = 7. The new one tolerates her.

F = 6. The new one does not like her. Michaela must impress it to keep riding.)

 

Quest 3: Cleaning

 

Michaela needs to clean, do chores, and basically do her part in...wherever she goes after her escape. I haven't decided yet. There are two options. 

 

(I need to clean up the house more. 20+ minutes. Aiming for 3 times a week.)

 

A = 12 total. People respect her hard work.

B = 10. Michaela earns her place.

C = 8. Some believe she is lazy.

D = 7. They barely tolerate her.

F = 6. Michaela is asked to leave.

 

Quest 4: Food

 

Food isn't easy to come by, so Michaela can only eat her share.

 

(It's night. I'm up. What do I do? Eat. What do I do when I am full? Still eat. What do I do when I'm full during the day and a cookie is looking at me? Eat it. I need to stop.

 

My goal is a simple one. Don't eat unless I'm hungry. Very simple, but I am horrible at following it. I am making it a goal for that reason. 

 

A = 26 days of eating when only hungry. This gives me two mistake days. Michaela isn't noticed in the kitchen.

B = 24. She gets glances when she goes for food.

C = 22. She is questioned by a few people. It's embarrassing. After all, she has the same weight issues I do. [Apparently, she was well fed in the dungeon.]

D = 20. People are asking her to bring in more food.

F = 18. People are getting angry at her.)

 

Quest 5: Language

 

Michaela begins learning a foreign language. 

 

(Study Spanish in my Duolingo app. Of course, I won't learn as fast as her, since she lives in a fantasy world and I don't. I started it a few months ago, ditched it, started it again, then ditched it again. 

 

A = 24 days of lesson. Short lessons, so I have no excuse not to do it. Michaela does well in her lessons. 

B = 22. Michaela does well with the oral, but not the written.

C = 20. Michaela does well with the written, but not the oral.

D = 18. Michaela is struggling in every lesson.

F = 16. Michaela doesn't learn much of anything.

 

At this point, I honestly have no idea what "does well" means exactly. This will probably be a goal for a while longer.

 

Real Motivation: Better health. Being able to be active without suffering for it later. I want, in time, to be able to do a pull up. First though, I need to be able to hold my own body weight.

[Meushell]

Quest 1: Strength Training

Week 1 - Days Counted: 1

Week 2 - Days Counted: 3

Week 3 - Days Counted: 2

Week 4 - Days Counted: 4

Total: 10/12 

 

Quest 2: Bike Riding

Week 1 - Days Counted: 1

Week 2 - Days Counted: 1

Week 3 - Days Counted: 2

Week 4 - Days Counted: 4

Total: 8/10

 

Quest 3: Cleaning

Week 1 - Days Counted: 1

Week 2 - Days Counted: 2

Week 3 - Days Counted: 2

Week 4 - Days Counted: 4

Total: 9/12

 

Quest 4: Food

Week 1 - Days Counted: 4

Week 2 - Days Counted: 5

Week 3 - Days Counted: 6

Week 4 - Days Counted: 5

Total: 20/26

 

Quest 5: Language

Week 1 - Days Counted: 4

Week 2 - Days Counted: 5

Week 3 - Days Counted: 4

Week 4 - Days Counted: 5

Total: 18/24

[Hymnusal]

Following again!

 

The measures of success that you have against Michaela are definitely going to either help or impede her progress this time. I feel like the food goal is going to be the hardest one to achieve, probably best to try and keep the food out of sight so the temptations are less (and so you can save willpower for harder temptations).

 

More drakes! <3

[Erick the Red]

Eating only when you have planned and not impulsively is my biggest weakness.  I will be following your progress to see if I can learn from your accomplishments!

 

I have used Duolingo before and really like it. 

[Meushell]

It's into the morning of day three, and I'm already behind. 

 

I got a bike ride in (yea!). 

 

As for food. I messed up the first day. Late night. Watching tv. I need to find something else to do then. TV is an easy way to pass time during easy to moderate exercise. I just need to combine the two more often. On day two, I did well. I was kind of expecting to mess that up before hand because it was at the Renaissance Faire. I don't generally watch how much I eat at a fair. They have about the same food each year, so I'm learning what I enjoy (healthy or not). 

 

I forgot about the Spanish lessons, so I'll get started on that today.

 

Now for Michaela who needs to get out of her cell.

 

-----

 

After Adhara flew away, Michaela managed to get in a good position where she could look outside. She was in part, hoping that Adhara had lied about how high they were. What she saw far below were treetops. She wiggled around, looking all around. The bricks were packed tightly together. An attempt to climb down would be deadly.

 

"She gone?" was Olex's voice after she squirmed out of the hole in the wall.

 

"Yes." Michaela answered sadly. She wanted to be hopeful, but she had too much doubt.

 

"How does it look?"

 

"Miles of tiny treetops, then water until the horizon."

 

"Sea?"

 

"I... I'm not sure. I've never seen sea. It seemed pretty big though."

 

"Probably sea then."

 

Michaela sat down feeling defeated. "Have you tried breaking down your own bricks?"

 

"I have tried, but they won't budge. That's a gargoyle specialty, not a dragon one. In my other form, I could probably do it."

 

"Too bad. I got lucky with the cell."

 

"I guess that depends on Adhara."

 

"Yeah, but I haven't given up."

 

"Good luck."

 

"Thank you."

 

Michaela had no idea how long Adhara was supposed to take. Adhara hadn't known herself. No one had any idea where they were. Michaela gathered sheets as she waited. She got a new one every time they did the cleaning. The guards did not seen to notice the disappearance of the old ones. Still, it would take years for this to work.

 

Amethyst kept her company. The drake learned to hide whenever guards were coming.

 

--

 

In the middle of the night she heard a commotion outside. There was a muffled roar that excited Amethyst, soon followed by the sound of breaking bricks. Michaela's wall was slowly opening up. 

 

Freedom was coming!

 

She backed away closer to the door. The noise caught the attention of the guards. They were soon there, opening up the cells and attacking the prisoners. Michaela found herself fighting one of the guards. A second guard came, but Amethyst came to the rescue, darting around and biting the man. He collapsed as his body weakened. Cool air filled the room as her wall crumbled open. The guard was shot by someone outside.

 

Michaela went to the opening. A large drake was perched against the wall. A human archer with dark skin and white war tattoos was riding on top. 

 

"You Michaela? Come on."

 

Michaela quickly went on to the drake behind the woman. She could see that multiple cells had been opened. Adhara was there, helping out other prisoners on to other drakes. Two more people climbed on behind her. The wind was refreshing, and it smelled almost sweet. The moon and stars had never looked so beautiful.

 

The drake jumped off the side of the building, and Michaela saw people on top pouring some sort of liquid down the side. It hit and burned some of the unfortunate escapees. Soon arrows began raining down on them.

 

They were soon flying into the air, safe, but only a handful of people were saved from what turned out to be a colossus of a prison. Michaela's eyes widened, having never seen such a large building. It look like an old forgotten castle.

 

"Wow."

 

"It's larger than a city," said the prisoner behind her.

 

It was rapidly getting smaller as they rode away. Michaela was finally free again.

 

(The archer. I've decided that that's Adhara in the background.)

[fleaball]

Don't worry about stumbling a by in the beginning. Changing your habits takes time, otherwise it wouldn't be a challenge.  Being aware of it and finding something else to do, like you said, is a great idea.  

[Infinity.Creates]

The bike riding as learning to ride a dragon is an awesome one! (I'm definitely going to enjoy cycling to school on Monday now Even if there is a massive hill in the way...)

Also awesome story, and congrats on coming back for the second challenge in a row! 

Hitting a bump in the beginning can be quite demoralising, but just know that you've still got all this time to improve! Take it a day at a time and try to improve each day and each day only.

How's the second half of Week 1 been coming along? Any advances to the story (though that's a lot to write in a week! )

[Hymnusal]

Popping in to see how you're doing. You can overcome a bumpy start, I've seen you catch up and rock challenges before so I know you can do this!

[Meushell]

Hello all,

 

I had a hiking trip this weekend with my father and son, so I was busy prepping for that. The hiking trip turned out to be a lot farther than we anticipated. The plan was to hike four miles to a cabin, rest/play/etc., spent the night, then come back down. 

 

Instead, we were told that that trail was blocked, to take the more difficult trail. "More difficult" was putting it lightly. An estimated six hour hike turned into an eleven hour hike. No one was enjoying themselves in the end. My son handled it all better than anyone. He was comforting and happy whenever we were resting. He enjoyed the whole hike more than we did. It really wasn't until the end that he got upset. There was a cute moment where he stopped and froze, not wanting to go on. It turned out, he was afraid of a large, oddly shaped, fallen tree trunk. He relaxed and was happy again when we told him what it was.

 

When we got to the camp, it turned out we were informed wrong. Everyone else took the other trail. We were just exhausted. We ate and went to bed. The next morning, we got to explore the camp more. Then we took the easier path down.

 

Random Moment: We walked into a small swarm of ladybugs! So pretty!

[fleaball]

Oh man, I would cry. Great job finishing it despite it being so tough!

[Hymnusal]

I'm glad you made it through that! Even though it sucked you all got to share it together, hopefully it will turn into a better memory than it was as an experience.

You might even be able to work it into Michaela's story - enduring crazy side paths of tiring trails.

 

On 2017-05-01 at 5:22 PM, Meushell said:

Random Moment: We walked into a small swarm of ladybugs! So pretty!

<3 This just makes me smile

[Hymnusal]

How have things been going @Meushell ?

[Meushell]

On 5/3/2017 at 1:01 PM, fleaball said:

Oh man, I would cry. Great job finishing it despite it being so tough!

 

Oh, that I did. A lot of that was just pure frustration. I felt better when I took more breaks. Once we got over the top, it was better.

 

On 5/5/2017 at 10:43 AM, Hymnusal said:

I'm glad you made it through that! Even though it sucked you all got to share it together, hopefully it will turn into a better memory than it was as an experience.

You might even be able to work it into Michaela's story - enduring crazy side paths of tiring trails.

 

<3 This just makes me smile

 

The memories really are better.  If I had really known what I was in for going in, I would not have done it. Now though, I'm glad I did. Other than the three of us, no one else I know has done anything like that, and that includes many people who are in better shape than I am.

 

As for Michaela, I thought of that myself.  I don't know yet exactly how or if. Lol.  First, I just need to catch her up in the story. 

 

For anyone hiking, I recommend the app, Cairn. We had an actual map too of course, but that app was very helpful in seeing exactly where I was. (The quick lazy way, basically.) I have no idea how it keeps track when my phone doesn't even have a signal.  My son also loves looking at the map.

 

The hike did take take a bit of a toll after though. I had a week plus cough after.  I'm assuming it's from the hike anyway.  Anyway, because of that I basically took week 2 off, resting whenever possible. I eased back in for week 3. I'm going to use this week (starting Saturday for me), to make up the missing week.

 

Now for a Michaela update...

 

--

 

Up in the air, it was quite intimidating. Never before had the ground been so far away. The very sight of it made Michaela feel dizzy. She closed her eyes, focusing on herself for a bit. When she opened them, she looked around instead of down. There were other drakes been ridden as well, and Amethyst not far behind her. There is also one dragon.

 

Olex.

 

It had to be him. He was already in full dragon form. In the past, she had imagined him in a variety of colors. She hadn't asked, thinking it would be impolite. It turned out, he was green, though a different tone than she was. Michaela could only see one eye, and it was both blue and yellow. She never seen two colors and one eye before.

 

Did he recognize her? She wasn't the only female orc rescued. He didn't seem to be paying attention, focusing ahead. Michaela realized he looked exhausted.

 

She knew how he felt. They were not too far into the ride when Michaela learned that it took coordination and strength to ride a drake. It seemed like her muscles became sore quickly. 

 

They finally landed. 

 

"Anyone who wishes to leave may do so," said the unknown warrior. "The rest of you may continue on with us for now."

 

Michaela was only half paying attention. She was laughing at the feel of soft grass under her. Amethyst watched her with curiosity, as if the little drake was trying to understand the laughter.

 

"Anyone?" Olex asked.

 

"For now."

 

Olex laid down, still in dragon form.

 

Michaela managed to get up and moved to him. Amethyst fluttered from the grass to her shoulder.

 

He sniffed, then tilted his head. "I wondered what you looked like."

 

The orc smiled. "I wondered the same about you." She glanced around at the others. "I thought you would be headed home."

 

"I need to figure out where home is first. Besides, it would be rude to simply abandoned my rescuers, even if I am not...entirely welcomed."

 

Michaela wondered what that meant.

 

Adhara approached. "We aren't so hostile to males. Forgive Chara. She works herself to exhaustion. I would not have made back so quickly without her."

 

"You need rest more than I do," Chara said as she approached.

 

"That I shall." She gave Michaela a package. "It's not the best, but it is all we have for now." She gave a nod of goodbye before leaving. "Goodnight."

 

Chara smiled, then looked to Michaela and Olex. "She's not had a full night's rest since her escape."

 

"She didn't get it in prison either," Michaela replied, looking up to the stars. "I slept during the day. I don't think she did."

 

"You can sleep under the stars soon enough. We ride in the morning." Chara looked back to the camp that was being built. "I am needed." She left after a short nod.

 

Michaela opened the package.

 

"You must be special," Olex teased.

 

She found dried food within. Amethyst trilled excitedly, grabbing a piece of jerky, then flying off with it. The drake landed several feet away, quickly devouring the dried meat with her sharp teeth.

 

"Or Amethyst is," Olex added with a laugh.

 

Michaela hoped the act didn't offend the others, but no one else seemed to notice. She ate some of the food, but she was mostly tired.

 

After laying down, Amethyst returned and tried cuddling into her hair. Michaela allowed it for a few seconds before moving the drake. Amethyst immediately resettled, draped across Michaela's side. 

 

Michaela fell asleep to the sound of purring.

[Hymnusal]

On 2017-05-21 at 6:07 PM, Meushell said:

The hike did take take a bit of a toll after though. I had a week plus cough after.  I'm assuming it's from the hike anyway.  Anyway, because of that I basically took week 2 off, resting whenever possible. I eased back in for week 3. I'm going to use this week (starting Saturday for me), to make up the missing week.

 

Glad you took the rest when you needed it, and glad to see you back!

 

On 2017-05-21 at 6:07 PM, Meushell said:

Michaela fell asleep to the sound of purring.

Awwwwwww! (No, stop it Hymnusal! You're a death knight, not some pansy night elf druid! Oh, nevermind.)

[Meushell]

Thanks. I need to figure out my stats and basically catch up on threads, including making one for the new challenge. I'll probably just do the same. I had that in mind yesterday, so I hit on everything I would do.

 

I am not in shape to bike ride. My arms actually get sore before anything else. I did not expect that. LOL There has been some improvement from this challenge though. I'm not pushing to go longer, but to go faster in the time I use. I'm going to get a new bike for Mother's Day. My current bike is 26 years old. It has a name, Starlight, because when you are nine, your bike can certainly be a  pegasus, and if your bike is a pegasus, she certainly needs a name. Starlight has gone through years of being ridden on a regular basis, being neglected, being ridden, being neglected... (More so with being neglected, sadly.)

 

Michaela's story is behind, but that makes writing easier anyway. It's just a bit more behind than I like.  For now, here is her last segment of this thread.

 

--

 

It took a couple of days to arrive at their destination. Michaela saw right away that it wasn't a permanent settlement.

 

"Our clan has not had a real home for some time," Chara explained. "We aren't strong enough to defend one. Adhara seeks to unite all Amazons. Then we may have a place to call home."

 

"Other clans wander as you do?"

 

"Many do. Many have found a home with others, but we have lost strength in being so scattered." Chara looked to her. "She was on her way to find others when she was captured. I...failed to protect her."

 

"It's easy to be overpowered."

 

"It was worse than that. I went to the river to get us water. She was gone when I arrived. I tried to track her down, but they were too quick, taking to the air before I was even close. I never thought I would see her again." The woman turned to Michaela and grabbed her arm. "I am in your debt. I love all my sisters, but Adhara and I have always been close. Most Amazons have true sisters, but we never did, so we had each other instead."

 

Michaela nodded slightly. "I think you repaid it with rescuing me."

 

"Perhaps in time we will have no need of debt between us. Adhara tells me you are on a quest, yet...there still much you do not know. I could teach you much about this world if you could tell me all you have found so far."

 

"I'm afraid I haven't found much."

 

"With your homing drake you could easily keep me up-to-date on what you do find." The woman smiled. "I'm sure we could make an arrangement."

 

"I'm sure we can." It would be nice to have another contact once she was traveling again.

 

"Rest for now. We all need it."

 

"Thank you."

[Meushell]

Challenge Retrospective

 

Goal One

Strength Training - 10/12 (83%)

Stat - 1 Strength

 

Goal Two

Bike Riding - 8/10 (80%)

Stat - 1 Stamina

 

Goal Three

Cleaning - 9/12 (75%)

Stat - 1 Charisma

 

Goal Four

Food - 20/26 (77%)

Stat - 1 Constitution

 

Goal Five

Language - 18/24 (75%)

Stat - 1 Wisdom

 

Final Overall Challenge Grade

65 / 85 (76%)

 

Before

 

300 Points - Level 3

 

Strength 6 • Dexterity 3 • Stamina 6 • Constitution 5 • Wisdom 1 • Charisma 2

 

New

 

376 Points - Level 3

 

Strength 7 • Dexterity 3 • Stamina 7 • Constitution 6 • Wisdom 2 • Charisma 3

-----

I didn't gain a level, but I am much closer to the next one. I only gained one out of two possible stats per quest.