[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/146572ed-ee3b-477b-a1cb-fbd6adb87448.png[/img] [b][color=96512B][h3]Gerrik Far-Teacher[/h3] Level 7 Hain Hero 31 Khookies[/color][/b][/center] [right][url=https://youtu.be/ACWAeIvWyT0]Florian Bur - Your Day[/url][/right] Gerrik had begun work on planting food plants the day after he had announced the idea to Sharon. While foraging, Gerrik would set aside some of the fruits and seeds to become part of his farm. He had many options to choose from, but Gerrik decided that for this initial test it would be best to use plants which grew relatively quickly. The grain-bearing grass from which Tallgrass got its name was an obvious choice. The yams he often found were also collected. Tomatoes, which tended to grow quickly, were also chosen. For his farm, Gerrik had chosen a clearing close to the village and adjacent to the river. In his spare time, Gerrik dug up the soil and planted the seeds he had collected. Initially, he did this with a spade, digging an individual hole for each plant, but that was too slow, so eventually he got a large curved wooden stick, sharpened the end into a blade, and used that to cut furrows into the earth. While Gerrik knew nothing about farming, he was not clueless. He had decades of accurate and detailed observational data stored within his memory, and his enhanced mind was perfectly wired to process and cross-correlate all that information. While he had never had cause to think about it before, Gerrik had a vast amount of information about how plants worked, including under what conditions plants tended to grow well. One observation he had made was that plants, especially food plants, tended to grow more prolifically where large amounts of fecal waste were deposited. Seeds tended to go undigested, and grew after being defecated. Manure seemed to provide a good growing environment for plants. To Gerrik it seemed like a fair trade- he got to eat the plant's fruit, and new plants grew as a result. So to aid the growth of his newly planted crops, Gerrik collected waste from where the villagers defecated and smothered it over the soil of his farm. It was smelly work, but it should provide good returns. One day Gerrik was spreading out the manure with a wooden shovel when he was interrupted by a childish voice. "Ew! He's digging poo." This remark was followed by a stern reprimand from a familiar woman's voice. "Don't be rude, Tami. Gerrik's doing important work." With eyes on both sides of his head, like all hain, Gerrik had been watching the pair approach before they spoke. It was Sharon and her six-year-old daughter Tami, and they had come with a basket full of freshly harvested grain carried by Tami. Gerrik stuck his shovel in the ground and walked towards them. "I agree with Tami; it is pretty gross," Gerrik replied. Gerrik knelt down in front of Tami so that his eyes were level with hers. "Is that basket for me?" he asked. Tami nodded vigorously and offered out the basket. "Mummy says that with this you can make lots and lots of plants." Gerrik took the basket. "I see that your mummy has been making you be useful and do work." Tami nodded. "Keep doing good work and helping mummy." Tami nodded again. "Now, will I see you at tonight's lesson?" "Yes, Gerrik," Tami nodded. "Good." Gerrik straightened up to address both Tami and Sharon. "Did you want to help me plant these seeds? I've prepared a patch of soil over there for them." "We'd be happy to help you," Sharon replied, then gestured to Tami. "Come on, let's help Gerrik." Tami began to protest at the prospect of more work, but was interrupted by Sharon's reprimand. "Don't be lazy, Tami. Everyone has to do work, and you're old enough to help. You can play later." Tami relented, and they went to help Gerrik. Tami got a basket with a portion of the seeds, and Sharon shared a basket holding the rest of the seeds with Gerrik. They scattered the grains across the ploughed earth, patting them in with their feet. Gerrik held the basket with one hand, and Sharon stood close beside Gerrik, reaching across his arm and into the basket to retrieve seeds to sow. Sometimes they would go and grab seeds at the same time, and their hands would fleetingly meet. Seeing this, Tami giggled. Sharon gave Tami a stern look and asked, "What's so funny?" Tami giggled again and replied cheekily, "Is Gerrik your new boyfriend, mummy?" Sharon's mouth gaped, her beak angled down, and her eyes darted between Tami and Gerrik. Tami let out another giggle. Gerrik simply watched expectantly. Eventually, she regained her composure. "So what if he is? I'm a grown woman." Tami giggled again. The three of them then went back to sowing the seeds, followed by watering with buckets of water carried over from the river. When it came time for Gerrik to spread the manure, though, Tami would have no part in it. "Ew, stinky poo," Tami squealed as Gerrik carried over a shovelful of fresh manure. "I can take it from here," Gerrik said, "Thank you for your help." Without need for further invitation, Tami scampered off towards the tents of the village, keeping a wide girth around Gerrik and his manure. Sharon stayed around for a few moments longer. Gerrik deposited the manure upon the ground and spread it out. Gerrik then took one hand off the shovel and touched Sharon's arm. "I'll see you later, Sharon." Sharon touched Gerrik's arm in response. "See you later, Gerrik." Then she left, and Gerrik continued his farming. [hr] Although he was farming, Gerrik also wanted to figure out how to work the star-fiend carapace. Collecting samples was difficult, requiring the divine power of the Eenal bow to severe a segment from the corpse in any reasonable time frame. Shaping the samples was almost as hard; the sledgehammer was crude and unwieldy, and still required a huge amount of effort to shape even a small sample. The properties which made star-fiend carapace such a brilliant material also made it very difficult to craft with. But Gerrik had an idea. The star-fiend carapace had some affinity for fire; star-fiends were creatures of fire when alive, and scraping its carapace with a flint blade released sparks. While the star-fiend was alive and filled with fire, with was able to move. So, perhaps, by applying fire, he might be able to recover some of the flexibility. The fire would need to be hot, but conveniently Gerrik knew a thing or two about making fire. He knew that fires needed to breathe just as much as they needed fuel. So he needed fuel which burned hot and a way to provide it with plenty of air. To hold his fire, Gerrik made a small structure of clay bricks. There was a square tray, about a meter on a side, to hold a reasonably sized fire. The tray was two hand's breadths above the ground, supported by bricks, with many small holes in the base of the tray to let air in and ash out. For his fuel, Gerrik stacked up plenty of firewood in his tray and lit it. It took time for the fire to reach its peak, with Gerrik adjusting the firewood with a fire-hardened wooden pole. Once he thought it was ready, Gerrik took a chunk of star-fiend carapace he had collected earlier and pushed it into the heart of the flames. It seemed to do something. The carapace actually began to glow a dull red. Once its temperature seemed to equilibrate, Gerrik quickly pulled it out of the fire with the stick, bringing it to the edge of the furnace, and then struck it with his sledgehammer. The blow flattened the heated carapace more than usual. Gerrik put the carapace back in, heated it more, then took it out to strike it again. The results were repeated, the carapace flattening more than cold carapace. This was an excellent result. But Gerrik figured he could make the fire hotter. His furnace needed some redesigning. He would need to place a solid rock in front of the furnace so he would have a firmer place to work the carapace, for the bricks had cracked under his sledgehammer. He had noticed that hot air escaped out the top of the fire, so he could probably make the fire hotter by trapping the heat by enclosing the fire. And if he could force air to enter the fire faster, he could make it burn hotter too. And he wanted this fire to be as hot as possible. So Gerrik left the fire to burn down. He would not be able to make his modifications until tomorrow, for the furnace was too hot now, but he did prepare some more bricks and put them in the fire and embers to bake a bit before tomorrow. He was working on making a few more bricks when he was interrupted by a male hain. "Gerrik." "Yes, Arlen?" Gerrik replied. Arlen was Sharon's life-mate and father of Tami. "I'd like you to join me in tomorrow's hunt," Arlen said. Gerrik had a good clue as to the reason behind Arlen's request. "No problem. I'll see you tomorrow, Arlen." "Yes, see you tomorrow, Gerrik," Arlen replied, before leaving Gerrik to his work. The rest of Gerrik's day went as normal. The next morning Gerrik was up at dawn. He ate a breakfast of bread and mashed fruit, then picked up his bow and quiver, strapped a spear to his back, equipped and backpack, and waited for Arlen to meet him. Arlen soon came with his own bag, sling and sling stones, and a spear held as a walking stick. "Ready?" Gerrik asked. "Ready," Arlen replied. Gerrik and Arlen set off into the forest. A few minutes into the forest, Arlen spoke to Gerrik, his tone fairly neutral. "You've been getting quite close to Sharon." "That is correct," Gerrik stated. Arlen climbed over a fallen tree which was in their path. Gerrik vaulted over the log. "What is it that you see in her?" Arlen asked. Gerrik thought for a moment before replying. "Sharon is a hard-working woman, confident too. She has a healthy curiosity. She's reasonably pretty. And there is something about the way she expresses joy which makes me feel warm inside." Arlen nodded, and they kept walking for another minute until Arlen spoke again. "You're a traveller. You've told us a lot about your travels. What will happen with Sharon when you move again?" Gerrik contemplated this question for several seconds. He was internally torn between two choices, two ways of life. Finally, though, he answered, "If I move again. These plants I am growing means that I will likely be staying here for a few years at least as I try to figure out how to best grow them. After that..." Gerrik exhaled softly. "It can get lonely travelling. Sharon is the first person with whom I've been able to develop a meaningful relationship since Stone Chipper. And I've been travelling for a long time, possibly for longer than you've been alive. I think I've earned a break." Arlen nodded again. While he was processing Gerrik's response, Gerrik stopped Arlen with a hand, pointed into the undergrowth a couple dozen paces away, and quietly announced, "Hare." Arlen peered into the undergrowth. How Gerrik could see anything in there from so far he wasn't sure, but as he looked harder he noticed that there was indeed some brown animal within the greenery. He took a stone from his pouch, slipped it into his sling, and in a well-practised swing the stone was hurled at the animal. A grisly crunch and the snapping of branches could be heard as the stone made contact. "Good shot," Gerrik complimented. "Thanks," Arlen replied, as he went to the fallen hare. Although the animal was mortally wounded, with numerous broken ribs, it wasn't dead yet, so Arlen slit its throat with a flint knife. He then put the corpse into the bag he had brought with him. Arlen and Gerrik then continued into the forest. "It seems odd to me that Far-Teacher would settle down and stop travelling to new places to teach new people," Arlen commented. However, as he looked at Gerrik's expression and his hesitation, he realised that this was causing internal strife for Gerrik. "I'll find a way to make it work," Gerrik said, "That's what I do, make things work. I've got a few options, a few compromises, which should allow me to make a home here." "You're sacrificing a lot for Sharon," Arlen said. "But I gain a lot in return," Gerrik replied. "Indeed," Arlen said, with upturned palm. "Sharon's a good woman, and you're a good man. Should you decide to stay, I'd be happy to welcome you into our home, and Sharon would be more than happy if you did." Gerrik's palms opened towards the sky and his beak angled upwards. "Thank you, Arlen." "No, thank you, Gerrik," Arlen said, "Now, let us keep hunting." The pair kept walking in the forest, looking for prey, although Gerrik walked with even more spring in his step than usual. [hider=Summary] Gerrik has started his farm, planting wheat, yams and tomatoes. The accumulated encyclopaedic knowledge within his enhanced mind means he knows a fair bit about how plants grow. Of note, Gerrik is using manure as fertiliser. (2 Khookies to develop basic agriculture, which will gradually spread throughout Mesathallassa. 2 Khookies to discover manure to be a fertiliser) Sharon and her six-year-old daughter Tami go and meet Gerrik on his farm and help out a bit. The relationship between Sharon and Gerrik is growing progressively more intimate, and other people are starting to notice the romance. Gerrik figures out that heating star-fiend carapace makes it easier to work. He invents a simple forge to provide the temperatures he needs. (2 Khookies to make the connection between fire and metalworking, thus laying the groundwork of smithing) Arlen, who is Sharon's first and (presently) only husband, talks to Gerrik and they go on a hunting trip together. (Remember, hain are polygamous.) This hunting trip allows for Arlen and Gerrik to have a private conversation. Arlen queries Gerrik regarding his feelings towards Sharon and gauges his responses, determining whether he is sincere in his love for Sharon. Of note is Gerrik's internal conflict between staying in Tallgrass with Sharon or going out exploring the world in his duties as Far-Teacher; Gerrik is leaning towards staying with Sharon. At their conversation's conclusion, Arlen gives Gerrik his approval. [b]Khookie Summary[/b] [i]Start:[/i] 31 Khookies [i]Spent:[/i] 6 Khookies (basic agriculture, manure, basic blacksmithing) [i]Earned:[/i] 9 Khookies (12000+ characters) [i]End:[/i] 34 Khookies [/hider]