fh_trips | Arrakis - The Funeral Plain

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field trip 2009: arrakis

Arrakis - The Funeral Plain - Tuesday Evening

It was still hot in the early evening, one of the two moons was rising over the mountain range when Ghanima took them out of Tabr and into the the vast plains of the Deep Desert

One of Ghanima's Fedaykin bodyguards went to set the thumper just south of their position as she went over how to mount and ride the worm using the maker hooks, demonstrating slowly how to use them to catch hold of the giant creatures.

The thumper underscored her words with a steady thump/whomp, thump/whomp as they summoned their ride.

[OCD is up!]

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Pay attention, or one of the Atreides will probably wack you on the head and send you back to Tabr. You can still chat with your fellow riders, but you do need to focus on what's being said, unless you want to end up squished.

One moment, there was the steady thump/whomp, thump/whomp of the machine, and the next, there was a worm bursting out of the sand, mouth yawning wide to swallow the contraption down even as two of the Fremen moved to mount it, their maker hooks flashing as the worm rolled them up and they began to steer it towards the waiting students.

Yes, they were going to ride that.

Use the maker hooks to pull yourself up, mod one of the Fedaykin helping you make the leap, or ask Ghanima, Leto, or Irulan for help. Ghanima will be the last one up, to make sure no one gets hurt.

You get a nice view of the desert, if you can concentrate on that while on the back of the gigantic worm. If you ask politely, you can move up front with Ghanima and she will show you how to steer.

Yes, the only way off the worm is by leaping. Hope you all remember your parkour class!

If you weren't in the class and are afraid to jump, one of the Fremen will hold on to you when they dismount.

Watch the worm disappear beneath the surface of the sand, or just ignore it now you're on solid ground again.

As solid as sand gets, anyway.

Sorry for the late, had a work emergency that kept me down in the archives for four hours. I am now a Popsicle-Ahddie, srs. The adults and non-Terrain students along on the trip are totally invited to the riding, but it is not mandatory for anyone if they'd rather stay and socialize back at Tabr.

For size reference of how big the sandworms actually are, check out this or this or look at these. Unfortunately, YouTube has decided that all the clips I had bookmarked from Dune and CoD are now "Not available in your country due to copyright restrictions," so I lack video references. Although they apparently all still work for

future_sandworm, so I sulk in her general direction. With love.

Edited 2009-06-30 23:04 (UTC)

Irulan was up on the worm without much incident but there were still a few butterflies in her stomach everytime she attempted the leap. Not that she would let it show.

Merlin's eyes went big at the sheer size of the beast. But he wasn't about to back off. Really now. He threatened dragons ~~in a bitchy way~~.

"How do you even manage it?"

Savannah was quietly listening to everything that was being said.

Jon was crazy enough to do this, so he was going to pay very close attention to what he was told.

Savannah stared in shock at the size of the beast and swallowed hard. It looked a lot larger than she remembered from the class.

However, she wasn't going to back out of the ride. She was determined to experience everything she could while visiting the world of one of her favorite teachers.

Just... it was so big and so many teeth...

"Just stay close and be prepared to leap when Ghani tells you," she assured the young man with the ears. She hoped she sounded assuring because as always riding a worm always elicited mixed reactions of excitement and anxiousness.

Jon stood back a bit and watched a few others go first before trying it himself. He did a good job, but nearly slipped at the top and quickly took the hand offered to him by one of the Fedaykin.

Alex couldn't help but stare at the sandworm, mouth hanging open. "Wow." And here she thought mastering a flying carpet was cool.

Triela wasn't entirely sure what she thought of the whole worm thing. It wasn't bad, she supposed, but she would stick with cars and stuff.

"Do you have a minute?" Triela asked as she approached Ghani. She seemed a bit stiffer and more formal than usual.

The desert was truly spectacular sight to behold from this vantage point. "Much, much better than thoppter ride," she murmured.

Alex listened intently to what was being said because she was going through with this.

"Leap." Right. Merlin and his obvious physical skills when it came to grace and economy of movement. "Have you done this before?"

"Yes," Irulan said, her smile a touch wry, "I had to, someone has to look after the twins. I believe I was very nervous the first time I attempted it." She looked at Merlin, "Would you like me to help you up?"

Irulan saw the almost slip.

"Are you alright?" She shouted, making herself heard against the wind.

Turtle was doing her best to pay rapt attention, but was getting that nervous feeling that she was going to miss some important thing and screw it up.

Ghanima spared one last fond glance after the departing sandworm before turning to the other girl. "Of course, Triela. What is it?"

"I certainly would not turn it down," Merlin admitted with a quick grin.

"Then, stick close to me," Irulan advised, "how long have you been my stepdaughter's student?"

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Arrakis - The Funeral Plain - Tuesday Evening

During the Lecture

React!

Hop Up!

During the Ride

Jump Off!

After the Ride

OOC

Re: Hop Up!

Re: React!

Re: During the Lecture

Re: During the Lecture

Re: React!

Re: React!

Re: Hop Up!

Re: React!

Re: After the Ride

Re: During the Ride

Re: During the Lecture

Re: React!

Re: React!

Re: Hop Up!

Re: During the Lecture

Re: After the Ride

Re: React!

Re: React!