• Solo • Drownproofing

[Oram Mednix]

17 Ymiden 721

The mer stood at the edge of the pond, watching the dozen or so figures approaching him through the trees. It was early Ymiden, and early as well in the trial, early enough not to be too hot yet, although the rising sun promised plenty of heat to come. The water would be cool, though bearable, Leland hoped, for the humans who were about to become acquainted with it.

The mood of the approaching Rangers was more mixed. On one hand, they were looking forward to training in something other than weapons, and in doing something more interesting and fun than cleaning the compound, clearing rubble from the still-ruined buildings, or going on patrols. But there was apprehension as well. The training this trial was for something called “drownproofing”, and since most of those present were so precisely because they either could not swim or had yet to prove that they could. For many of them, Oram realized as he looked over them, this would be the first experience they would have with being in water over their heads. He himself was somewhat rusty.

Leland and Oram made eye contact, and the mer called out: ”How many, Oram?”

Oram looked back quickly to make sure that none of those he had brought had wandered off. ”Twelve” he replied.

The mer cocked his head mistrustfully. ”Did you count yourself?” he demanded.

Oram frowned slightly at the lack of confidence, but remembered that Leland didn’t know him that well. ”Of course,” he responded. ”Would you like us to count off for you?”

The traveler had meant the offer to be pre-emptive, but Leland seemed on the verge of taking him up on it for a few trills before deciding against it. ”That’s fine,” he said, waving a webbed hand concessively. ”Twelve it is.”

He squared his shoulders and looked around at the now-fully-assembled group. ”Good morning, Rangers,” he announced, raising his voice. ”I am Leland. I will be your instructor this trial.” He paused and looked around expectantly.

The Rangers, unlike the Elements, did not have a custom of enthusiastic grunting to acknowledge every other declaration an instructor made, but Leland had learned to pause, especially when meeting a new class, so that he wouldn’t get interrupted by a random “Hua!”

[Oram Mednix]

Water: The Element of Surprise

After assuring himself that no unwanted ‘huas’ were forthcoming, Leland beckoned for the class to follow him up to a small fishing dock that extended perhaps thirty feet over the pond. Standing on the dock, he looked around at the Rangers gathered in a semi-circle. The mer trailed a webbed foot in the water just over the dock’s side. ”This,” he announced, ”is water. It covers most of Idalos. It is vital to most if not all mortal and animal life, as well as plants. Some of us live in it.” He paused meaningfully, his mouth twisting into what may or may not have been a smile. This did not seem to get the response he had been hoping for, so he pushed on: ”…In spite of this, water can kill you. Anyone know how long it takes to drown, once you’ve breathed in water? Not me, obviously, but human-like mortals like most of you?”

There was an expectant pause. Somebody ventured: “A break?” which drew guffaws from most of the other Rangers as obviously wrong. Somebody else guessed “five bits”. Leland shook his head. Oram, deciding to take a stab, offered: ”Ten bits?”

Leland nodded. ”Close. It varies, but for most humans and similar races, the range is somewhere between twelve and fifteen bits. Biqaj may last a bit longer, ithecal as well, for different reasons. But for the most part, unless you’re a fish, like me, you don’t want to breathe in water at all, and you definitely don’t want to keep it in your lungs for any amount of time.”

The mer next explained the stages of drowning, which was only slightly more pleasant to hear described than it probably was to experience. When he explained the stages up to which a person could most likely be revived with the right skill, one of the Rangers asked: ”Are we going to learn how to do that?”

Leland had no eyebrows, but if he had, he might have raised one here. ”Not to-trial. But that might perhaps be a worthwhile endeavor for later. What do you think, Oram?”

Oram considered for a moment. ”Sure, if there’s interest, I can talk to the healers at the order” he responded at last. ”We may be even be getting one permanently on-site soon, if we’re lucky.” Faith Augustin and he had discussed as much at the Order branch opening. ”I’ll follow up and let you know.”

[Oram Mednix]

We all float down here.

Leland nodded in acknwoledgement, then continued. ”Right, so the purpose of today’s training is *not* to teach you all how to swim effectively from point A to point B, at least not more than about five to ten feet. The main point is to teach you how to stay afloat and call and wait for help. The technique itself is simple, but there is a complication.” The mer looked around at the group. ”If I were to tell you all right now that we’re about to go swimming, what is the first thing most of you would do?”

After a couple trill’s hesitation, somebody chirped up with: ”Strip?” Leland nodded approval.

”Yes, exactly. Clothes get heavy and confining when wet, so people typically remove them before entering water. One of the major differences between people who expect to go into the water and people who don’t is that the latter will often have their normal clothes on when they go in, and it can be pretty difficult to remove items from your person when you’re in the water, especially if you’re not used to swimming.”

The mer broke off from his explanation to retrieve some sort of bundle from the ground. ”This is a set of clothing a ranger might typically wear on a mild-to-coolish mid-Ashan trial. They include boots. They’re in there, just trust me; I don’t want to untie this thing.” He walked out a bit onto the dock, bent over, and dunked the bundle into the pond as he continued. ”A set of clothes like this with boots might weigh four to five pounds dry, but once they absorb water, they can weigh upwards of ten. That doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, it makes a difference. A typical mortal body is just about buoyant without any additional weight. Add some wet clothes and waterlogged boots, and you’ll probably have to work to stay afloat.”

The mer stood up, re-approached the group, and shoved the soggy bundle into the chest of one of the Rangers, who let out a startled grunt. ”Try that,” Leland encouraged. ”Heavy, isn’t it? You’ll find out soon enough how much of a hindrance that is. Go ahead and pass that around.”

Leaving the Rangers to take turns hoisting the wet bundle of clothes, Leland stalked back out to the dock. ”So, next up, we’re going to have a practical demonstration. Is there anybody here who’s already a decent swimmer?” A couple hands shot up, including, somewhat hesitantly, Oram’s own. Leland called on a middle-aged biqaj who was, in spite of his arcs, relatively new to the Rangers. As the mer asked the man to join him on the docks, Oram secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Truth was, he wasn’t that great of a swimmer, and hadn’t been looking forward to putting his meager skills on display.

[Oram Mednix]

Someone help me, help me, help me please. Give an answer from above.

Leland got annoyed when the biqaj he had picked as demonstrator got ahead of him, jumping in the water before the mer told him to. He leaned over the edge of the dock and pulled the surprised Ranger up by the hair, glaring and shouting in his face. ”Do NOT get ahead of me! Do NOT get in the water before I tell you to! Maybe you can swim just fine on your own, and maybe you can’t, but I cannot guarantee everybody’s safety with a dozen people who can maybe swim and maybe can’t all jumping in the water when they feel like it. Do you understand?!” The chastened biqaj nodded mutely, whereupon Leland told him to get out of the water and rejoin the class; he was fired as demonstrator.

Leland then asked for another volunteer from among those who could swim. Nobody raised their hand. At last, realizing he had to set an example, Oram himself did. Relieved, the mer called the hunter forward; he proceeded to explain his drownproofing technique. It involved a combination of dead man’s float (face down in the water, more or less upright but leaning forward with arms stretched out to he side), treading water, and a modified dead man’s float where one leaned back slightly, facing upwards. This was both to give the swimmer a chance to breathe, and also to call for help. In the system Leland was teaching, the student was only to attempt to travel forward via sidestroke if safety was within a few feet. Otherwise they were to stick with the float while awaiting and calling for help.

Mindful of the biqaj’s experience, Oram listened to and followed Leland’s instructions as closely as possible as he first pantomimed the techniques on the dock, then at last, not one trill sooner or later than Leland told him to, jumped in the water. Oram had not jumped into deep water in his clothes before; he was prepared for the water closing over his head, but not for how strongly the weight pulled on his feet as water streamed into his boots. The water where he was was about eight feet deep, and he actually touched bottom before pushing up and clambering to the surface. Once there, he managed to get into his dead-man’s float/treading combination. On cue, he leaned back and said: “Help!”

Leland was not satisfied. ”What was that?” he demanded. ”Did I hear something? Did you hear something, class?” Even as he went back face down, Oram could hear the other Rangers gleefully answering “No!”

The mer smirked down at him. ”You call that calling for help, Mednix? No one will save you if no one can hear you. Shout! Shout like your life depends on it!”

”Help!!” Oram called out louder.

”Nope!” rejoined Leland. ”Still drowning. No one heard you. LOUDER, MEDNIX!”

”HELP!!!” Oram shouted at last, with all the air and voice he could muster, then quickly leaned back forward into the dead man’s float, as much to hide his embarrassment as anything else.

”Again!” called out the instructor when Oram came up for air. ”Keep calling out until your rescuers actually arrive!”

”HELP!!! HELP ME!!!” Oram continued to shout. He was having an easier time now shouting loudly, largely due to the fact that he was now annoyed. His fellow classmates were delighted.

Thankfully, Leland only made him repeat the shouts a couple more times before calling a couple classmates forward to help him out. Oram did not need assistance; the ladder was only a couple feet in front of him, and he was able to swim to it and clamber out, which he did pointedly ignoring the mock solicitations of the would-be rescuers, much to everybody's amusement except his own. He was, however, breathing surprisingly hard once he did. It made him appreciate how challenging it would be to keep afloat in clothes for even a few bits.

”Alright, well done! Let’s hear some applause for Oram! And also for his brave rescuers!” The class answered with clapping that seemed genuine enough.

Oram, dripping wet and breathing hard, looked at them. He had to hand it to them: they seemed as delighted at his success as they had at his humiliation. He hoped they were having all the fun he wasn’t. There was one large consolation, though: they would all get their turn in the water, and now he would get to watch.

[Doran]

Oram:

Knowledge:
[Leadership] Being willing to humble oneself before one’s followers can be a good thing.
[Strength] Swimming in clothes is tiring.
[Teaching] Don’t hold back when enforcing classroom safety.
[Teaching] Using a demonstrator.
[Swimming] Dead-man’s float.
[Swimming] Treading water in clothes.

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: I didn’t realize that Oram has Novice Swimming (and precisely one point in it). I wonder why he can’t swim (well). Anyway, a lesson in drownproofing is a good idea, especially when you are a Ranger, and you described the Rangers’ apprehension in that regard well in my opinion. I’d be a bit wary of being in water over my head as well, I have to admit!

Leland’s little speech at the beginning of the lesson was amusing in my opinion. I smirked when he led the Rangers to the pond and talked about how this was water and that it covered most of Idalos. It’s true though, and he told his students a few important things apart from that!

When the practical demonstration started and Oram got into his dead-man’s float/treading combination and said: “Help!”, it was another amusing scene in my opinion. I like how you combined humor with a very important lesson in this thread. Fortunately, Oram ultimately shouted loudly enough!

Enjoy your rewards!