Rescue Team Incoming

I've had so much fun working on this at the beginning. Then I got sick and had to abandon many cool ideas for this scene, but well, I hope our rescue team still made a difference for the avalanche victims.

Story:

A powerful snowstorm's formed unexpectedly over the Tarak Mountains in the north of Wyvera and caused a series of avalanches to fall. Mining tunnels collapsed, towns were overrun and many people got caught up in the bad weather outside.

The news travelled fast on the wings of a couple of uninjured local Stryx and Microstryx and many people rushed north to help with the rescue efforts, Hannah and Helga among them. The two joined the rescue party heading to Bermaul, a small mining town. The sun's set in the meantime, but that didn't stop Rex or Ignac, the opposite actually. When they arrived, their nocturnal Stryx could replace the exhausted evening shift and continue the search without issue.

During the previous day the weather had gotten steadilly worse. The skies were grey and the snowfall had grown heavier. The miners took shelter in the tunnels, waiting for the storm to be over. Then a huge avalanche suddenly broke off from the peaks and ran down, destroying everything in its path. Some of the workers recognized the ominous roaring sound and tried to save themselves by fleeing from the tunnels, but ended up buried and being choked under the snow just as their comrades in the mines.

The incoming riders and Stryx have been doing their very best to find everybody and dig them out. Rex used his strength to transport the supplies up the mountain and the survivors down to the town. The rescue teams needed oil for the lanterns, probing sticks, medical supplies, dry clothes, warm blankets and hot cocoa for both the survivors and the search team members. The dug out miners were usually hypothermic, sore and half-suffocated. Some needed advanced medical procedures and those were the ones, that got strapped to Rex's back immediately. Harpias usually have quite a temper, but Rex has always been very calm and well-behaved, so he was the perfect candidate for the job. This time he's really outdone himself, Hannah couldn't be prouder. He flew tirelessly back and forth, while trying to make his flight smooth and collected to not aggravate his passengers' wounds. He even stoically endured cuddles from children they met or carried.

Ignacius turned out to be very useful as well. The young Chiro's since learned how to take advantage of his echolocation skills and was now using them to look for any weird echos indicating little caves or crevices in the snow, possibly with a buried body. He worked in synch with rescue windhounds trained to locate the victims using their keen sense of smell. Ignac's own muzzle was hard at work as  well. With the passing time, the chances of finding anybody alive were becoming slimmer, but they pressed on being aware of the hope and trust the Bermaul's inhabitants had put in them.