Akeno

While Akeno failed in finding anything resembling a kitchen or a cook for the time being, she did manage to find a few Orcs within the camp that caught her eye for one reason or another and was able to overhear a few little snippets of conversation that seemed interesting. A woodcutter who needed more wood to satisfy the blacksmith, a blacksmith who needed more ore for his craft, someone carrying a towering pile of baskets full of what might have been food who looked like he could use some help, a shaman who may or may not need someone to gather stuff for her, or maybe just an extra pair of hands for her work, a hunter and tanner who had a bunch of carcasses to skin and some kind of bigwig that she was planning on staying as far away from as she could. A cave to the south that some Orcs had gone missing in; given that she had just run away from a dangerous cave she wasn’t too interesting in finding another. An aspiring farmer and a clogged up spring that needed clearing.

Within that collection was more than enough opportunity for her to find some kind of job to do and hopefully start earning her way towards a place to sleep and some kind of stability in this place. Compared to all of that, the last thing she heard was almost not worth paying attention to; it sounded like idle gossip, or bullying. An Orc disparaging another for being too weak, in a tribe that made their children kill wild animals or die trying as a rite of passage. Given that she had just been musing about opening a dojo however, even just as a joke, hearing about an Orc who couldn’t fight seemed a little too serendipitous to ignore completely.

Rather than follow any of the more obvious leads, Akeno found herself drifting over towards the Orc who was mocking the ‘weakling’ to see if she could find out more. Her other options would still be there when she was done with this; it wouldn’t hurt to follow her instincts or to indulge her curiosity for a while.

@Zeroth

Agar

// we must go deeper >> Have we gone too deep? //

Agar took a cautious moment to go over what he was seeing in front of him and go over the new notifications he received. There was plenty of information being gained and so far, it seemed his presence was going unnoticed. The muffle skill and level up were a good addition to his growing skill set and now he knew that he could level up his skills with the experience he gained from using them. His next line of questioning was if he could acquire more skills without having empty skill slots. He decided against the thought of improving his health and mana for now, he could only assume that they would get a slight increase when he leveled up.

Thinking to himself knowing he still had the harpy meat for dinner it was probably best to keep expanding his skills and work into them as he went. Thinking to himself he made his decision on the level up choices, “system I choose empty skill slot.” With that decision out of the way he could now focus on what he wanted to do next. Striking the rabbit was an impulse thought but he had to be careful, something big was moving through the forest tracking another group that seemed to be goblin-like. It was stealthy and obviously some sort of ambush predator that even the bird from up above seemed to try and hide away from. The important part was there were plenty of mushrooms around out here.

A few of them seemed to be the ones he was looking for. The rabbit could wait for now, what he wanted to see was how that big creature responded to the others being aware of its presence. He could try to startle the rabbit, but he was likely going to do that anyway, he did notice the nearby tree and turtle shells he could escape too if he had to escape something. He had the screech valve but that would give away his position and he didn’t want to lose his spear or sharp rock. He had to find something on the ground, which was heavy enough, either a stone or heavy stick.

Agar moved quietly and carefully, Finding an old heavy and slightly rotting stick in the duff of pine needles and duff on the ground. Carefully he picked it up and held it in his hand for a moment while still crouched. He felt its weight in his hand for a few moments longer going through his plan one more time as he eyed the figures in the distance, the big alligator, and his two escape routes. He positioned himself behind the bush with a clear view of his escape routes and target, knowing that his sudden movements will probably startle the rabbit, but it would just be another distraction… assuming it ran.

Time for some action he thought to himself, eyeing a break in the tree branches where his branch would make it through. Agar in one swift motion hefted in an overarm arching throw launched the broken tree branch over his head and aimed it at the general location of the alligator ox. Ducking quickly back down to a position where he could sprint either to the tree with the branches and climb or back the way he came while also getting a good look at how everything responded if it did.

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@Zeroth

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@ERode

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As Esfir waited in the bushes, she would see the harpy continue to circle for several minutes. First it expanded outward, then crossed back over its previous path and corkscrewed inward, all centered on the tree it had been perched in before. But it landed in a different tree, looking at the tatzelwurm's skewered corpse.

Then its gaping maw lifted upward as it fluttered its wings, and it released a call of some kind--except that it was completely for silent for several seconds despite a visible vibration in its throat.

A shrill, grating ring began to rise in volume. It reached a nearly ear-splitting pitch, before the harpy clamped its jaws shut. The bird-monster fluttered a little lower--perhaps low enough that something thrown would reach it--and landed in a different tree.

Again, it trilled. The sound spread over Esfir like an itch, and even the grass next to her shivered. The harpy's head suddenly snapped in her direction, and it straightened up on the tree branch with wings snapped shut. Aside from a fidget as its weight shifted back and forth, it stopped moving.

Thus time went on. After another few minutes, the bird creature would look over its shoulders and sweep the rest of the area with its gaze. It looked down at the tatzelwurm again and hunched, as if it were considering leaving the tree after all.

Then it trilled again, and once again its head turned in Esfir's direction. So again it straightened up, and waited...

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@King Cosmos

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As Akeno headed towards the voices that were mocking the same Orc who had been carrying all those baskets, she soon rounded a tent that revealed Builge, an Orc Grunt known for bullying the Runts still left in the Brood Pits, as well as slapping around any other young orcling that would let him get away with it. Standing next to him was a taller, yet much skinnier, orc grunt with mottled ochre-and-brown tones, and a shorter, fatter grunt with lots of blue warpaint slathered over his stubby limbs and a mohawk that looked like it was kept aloft by copious amounts of animal fat-grease.

"Gyar har har!" hooted the bully and his two lackies. "Whatcher plantin' dere, Farmer Grukh-head? Some more o' dem tasty fish'eads from last toime?" The fat one wiped a tear from his eye as he chortled and called out afterward.

"Did da foist batch grow inter trouts yet?! Maybes ya gotta water 'em some mores!" The lanky one exchanged a round of backslaps with his fellow stooge, and all three continued laughing uproariously.

"Da fish don't grow, ya idjits!" snapped back the one with the baskets as he placed them next to the plot of cleared ground. "Dey rots in da ground, and da plants grow betta on top!" He sneered at the three grunts, despite being rather puny himself for an adult, and knelt down to dig at the earth with his hands.

"Oi! Who's ya callin' an idjit, IDJIT!?" Builge cracked his knuckles as he stepped forward. He glanced over his shoulder to see that his two followers were also showing signs of aggression--and in the process noticed Akeno approaching.

"'old up bois! Lookie 'ere!" The grunt smirked, tongue darting over one of his tusks. "One 'a da babies FINALLY got back to camp!" He pointed, prompting quizzical looks from his minions as they also noticed Akeno.

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@Kazemitsu

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The Runt described the beings in the northern caves. Giant bat-like creatures that were in colonies. That was not a good thing to fight out in the open. In a cave it'd probably be easier to deal with. The other Runt was excited by the footprints and drag marks. Grunthor was more interested in the stuff left behind.

In the abandoned 'camp' there were a few items, mostly junk that wouldn't interest anyone with half a brain. Ear necklace? Really? Useless. The gloves however, he picked them up while keeping an eye on the cave depths and the ceiling. Since he had his club he used his foot to scoot the stone dagger closer to the other Runt along with the bandana.

"If you know how to make a torch we'll go make one and proceed. I only know how to hit things really fucking hard and how to hurt organs with my fists." He said quietly before looking back at the exit. The light caught some minerals, all round bumps with a black luster. He knew jack shit about geology on earth nevermind this place.

"Maybe grab some of that and get going if you can't make a torch? We technically have evidence that they were here and I'm not hearing anything from deeper in..." Grunthor stated, he was naturally wary of giant web slinging scuttling things that could potentially take out three adults.

"Well, at least you know something that's actually useful." The orange-eyed runt chuckled. Taking his Wooden Stick out of his loincloth, the other runt wrapped the Red Bandana around it and then began digging around the remains of the fire. After at least two days it had no red embers left, but he was able to find a few bits of wood that hadn't burned and, upon digging up one of the bedrolls, a little piece of flint and a rusty steel striker. "Not like these other rubes with their "modern ejumacation" they can't actually reproduce."

The bandana was rubbed into the charcoal to give it a coating of the dusty substance, and then the other Runt slipped one of the grass-fiber handwraps over it as well. Within a few strikes, a torch blossomed to life. When Grunthor mentioned possibly investigating that shiny black material, and then getting out of the cave with the evidence that clearly the other orcs were dead, the greasy-haired runt "hmmmed" for a while.

He picked up the dagger Grunthor had slid his way, then used its antler handle, rather than its stone blade, to strike hard at the section of floor with the bumpy round bits.

"It's definitely--" he struck it again, "--some kind of ore." And again. "If we came back with some actual tools, we could get a good bit of it!" He struck one more time, and then made a breathy sound of triumph. He picked up a piece, turned it in his hand, then tossed it to Grunthor. "You ever met Bowbh yet?"

Obtained: Small Leather Gloves
Obtained: Raw Goethite Ore x1

The black mineral was weighty, but rather smooth due to its "bubbly" formation. Underneath its dark luster, some of the earth that had come out with it had a rusty red dusting.

"But!" the runt continued, taking his torch and pointing into the still-forboding darkness, "If we're gonna mine in here, we gotta make it safe, right? So what's say we soldier on and at least figure out what else we've got to worry about in here, right? If we make it quick," he glanced at his burning torch, "we can probably roast those webs on the way back! Eh? Eeeeh?" He wiggled his eyebrows at Grunthor conspiratorially.

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@ReusableSword

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Current Skills:

• Ingestion - MAX - After consuming a required amount of biomass from a particular Creature, 1 of that Creature's Skills can be copied at its lowest Rank.
• Field Scan - Rank II - Ingested Skill. Detect life signs around the user within 30 feet, and remain aware of them for 1 minute.
  • At Rank II, one can roughly sense the silhouette of the creatures within range.
• Blunt Resistance - Rank I - Ingested Skill. Passive Resistance against Blunt Damage is increased.
• Muffle - Rank I - Ingested Skill. Muffle the sounds of your movements to become stealthy. The user's footsteps will be significantly more quiet, but this is only a deduction from the normal amount of noise they would make. Therefore, one's armor, weight, etc may still produce sounds beyond a certain level.
• >> Empty Skill Slot!

With a mental "ding!" Agar's System gave him the level up reward. As he deliberated what to do, the Field Scan's effect wore off, but it didn't seem like anything else around him had moved much. All of the creatures should still be in their places...

The Orc Runt hurled his piece of debris. The movement startled the Jackalope, which sprang out from its hiding place. The noise attracted the large, vaguely-gator shaped creature. The red bird, which was the only creature he had a clear view of since it was brightly colored and high off the ground, drew itself up to be larger and ruffled its feathers, but made no sound.

The gator, with unusual swiftness for something of its size, lunged with a deep, rumbling growl that escalated instantly into a vicious snarl! But it wasn't coming at Agar.

With a meaty crunch and a high squeal, the Jackalope was seized mid leap. Despite its impressive speed, the explosive forward plunge of the larger creature was faster and covered more ground. The beast shook its horned head back and forth even as its jaws clamped down, and even slammed its prey into the earth with a great deal of violence. There were some shrill noises further on--the goblins, perhaps? These noises were followed by thumping sounds that grew more distant by the second.

Agar's vision of the other monster became more clear as it moved around. Once it had the entire Jackalope's body in its mouth, it then ran like a Komodo dragon towards a tree--headbutting it? No. It was shoving the entire, larger-than-Earth's sized rabbit down its gullet, whole.



There was even more distance between the creature and the tree that Agar was aiming for, so if he dared to run past it he could definitely make it to a safe place. There was also the option of trying to attack the beast while it was eating, as well...By this point, the Jackalope was a slightly twitching bulge in the monster's throat, which it began to rub back and forth against the ground to further force its unchewed meal down. And then...it went...very still...

Esfir tensed up at the screeching call. Did it possess a sense of camaraderie? Was it calling for its kin to feast with it? Her grip tightened upon the spear, ears pricked up to hear accompanying wingflaps. But nothing had happened. The harpy only landed elsewhere. Closer to the tatzelwurm’s corpse, yet still not in range.

She settled back down.

The second screech, and this time, she understood. The shifting of blades of grass, the goosebumps rising over her flesh. That sudden movement, gaze locked onto where she was. It was a physiological ability, a skill built for a cowardly creature to detect where its predators were. To detect ambushes, just like this. She furrowed her brow. It knew where she was, so it must know what she was doing. The harpy may as well…

Wait, it wasn’t leaving?

Such an ability, and yet it didn’t have the sense to cut its own losses. Funny thing, that. The runt understood though, its behavior. She stepped further away as a result, settling down a greater distance from the corpse. The harpy was a scrawny thing, too small to fly while carrying a corpse with it. She could imagine it like the crows of her hometown. They would pick at garbage bags, at dropped food, but they would not fly away with an entire container in their beaks. She could take advantage of this.

The third screech sounded, the movement of the grass before her a clear indication that now, she had avoided that crying sound’s effective range. The harpy swooped down, wings stretched out to decelerate as it landed upon the corpse. Its claws were sharp, sharp enough to rip through scale as well. She’d have to watch out for that.

First though, she’d have to watch out for its voice.

The fourth screech sounded. It was cautious, but now, it had finally allowed itself to let its guard down. It bent down its head, focused on the ‘free’ food before it. Esfir laid her spear on the grass, hands slipping into her stomach-bag to retrieve the sharp-pointed remnants of the horns she had savaged in order to produce a spearhead. Breathe deep. Crouch down. Focus. Stalk forth. Close in.

Three.

Two.

One.

The retort of a gun only she could hear!

Esfir sprinted forwards, skinny arms pumping as her frame shot through the bushes, over the risen roots, between the forked trees. The harpy’s head snapped up, the flight instinct triggering as its wings spread wide open, as its leg muscles activated for take-off. But that behavior was something she understood, and she hurled the Jackalope points forwards, the horn-shards whistling as they flew towards the monster. Defensive instincts triggered, wings collapsing inwards to protect its face and body. The points struck bone and thick membrane, unable to pierce the wings, but her gambit had paid off: by the time the harpy could take-off, it was in range.

“Frost Arc.”

A storm surged out, a blizzard gale that buffeted the harpy. Its wings caught something that it had not been prepared for, and the creature slammed into a tree, dropping upon the ground. Grounded, but not stunned. Crimson light spilled out from its claws, the creature lashing out defensively as Esfir approached. A meaningless struggle though, when she held the advantage in range. Her hands raised up once more, and a second Frost Arc blanketed the harpy in close range. This time, it was channeled, and the runt could feel something drain out from her body, something exit out through her veins, through the skin of the palm of her hands.
Whatever it was, however, it was worth it.

The harpy could only cower and screech as ice formed over its wings, while Esfir advanced with the surging blizzard, no longer threatened by claw swipes that might open up an artery and cause her to bleed out within seconds. She drew out her rock, took aim at the prostrating creature, and cracked its head open.

…

It was unwieldy, perhaps, but the haft was thick enough to bear the weight.

After having lashed the tatzelwurm and the harpy on either end of her spear utilizing her remaining Mycellium Lashes, Esfir dispassionately hoisted up her kills upon her shoulders. It was well past noon now, and the weight of her game made travel somewhat of a hassle. Perhaps she had gotten greedy, gotten ambitious.

Perhaps that was a good thing.

Wiping the remnants of snow off her fingertips, Esfir let out a sigh, hummed a song, and returned to the place that wasn't yet her home.



@Zeroth

Akeno

Following her instinct turned out to be a mistake. Instead of stumbling across some unforeseen opportunity to use her somewhat limited and niche skills of teaching karate to beginners to make a place for herself in the tribe, Akeno found herself being mocked by a clichéd trio of bullying Orcs who were harassing a farmer.

It was a situation that Akeno doubted she’d be able to just turn around and walk away from now that she’d been noticed and pointed out in the way she had, especially when the one doing the pointing was an Orc she vaguely remembered as being someone who regularly picked on the younger Orcs in the camp. Maybe she would try anyway, walking away that was; she wasn’t much in the mood to stand there and be heckled and she didn’t really want to start a fight to defend herself either. Not when it was three against one and she wasn’t sure she could beat this guy even if it was just one on one.

“Tsk.”

Making a sound of annoyance Akeno turned on her heel and walked away from the idjit’s, all four of them, hoping against hope that they would find it more interesting to go back to making fun of farmer than to keep their attention on her.

And since that hope was likely to go unanswered, she kept an ear open for the sounds of footsteps and made sure she was ready to either run or lash out as the situation demanded.

@Zeroth

Agar

// Have we gone too deep? >> that's a weird dog //

The rabbit ran from its hiding place like he expected it to do a momentary movement from the large bird above then the large snub nose alligator made its move. With the speed of an ambush predator it intercepted the rabbit with a snarl. The beast thrashed its prey in its maw while the small group ahead of him seemed to scamper off further into the brush. The way the creature swallowed the poor bunny reminded him of some sort of nature documentary he saw about comodo dragons with his kids.

The memory and emotions were quickly squashed and pushed aside while he continued to watch the beast slam itself down to quiet the quivering in its maw. This beast was fast maybe poor stamina though with it being a reptile in a cold place would explain the ambush tactics but he didn’t have the time to continue his train of thought he just had to find a different patch to search then.

For a moment he looked back up to the bird in the tree shifting himself just slightly enough that it would see him. Locking eyes with the bird for a moment in silent acknowledgement of each other then back to the weird gator. It was further away from the tree but he knew time wasn’t on his side and he did not wish to get stuck out here in the dark. Attacking the thing was an option but not a very good one in his opinion.

Instead he chose to use his new Muffle I skill to harvest the Red Cream mushrooms. Once he had picked them Agar decided that he was a bit more eager to explore then tempt unnecessarily dangerous situations and continue his search for the turtle shell mushrooms in another portion of the forest. Moving with the same carful steps and movement as he has done to get to this location, the runt back tracked for a few steps then headed into another portion of the deep forest.

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@Zeroth

Grunthor gave the other Runt a slightly agitated look. "I'm aware my skill set is limited. I focused heavily on boxing with a side of kickboxing to the point I got into the pro's. As an adult I could probably beat every other adult orc in hand to hand." He grunted a bit defensively as the other Runt hammered on the bubbly outcropping with the handle of the stone knife. Smart, no point destroying a weapon if you didn't have a back-up one.

From the group he had been with there hadn't been much focus on modern education. Esfir seemed like a survivalist and Akeno felt like she had focused on martial arts as much as he had focused on boxing and kickboxing. But who knew how many other Runts were like him and the nameless one. Said Runt asked if he met Bowbh. "No, because I haven't gone in and I left immediately. I need to hunt something to bring back, remember?" Grunthor questioned. Maybe he'd get bonus points if it was a Spider?

Catching the ore chunk he tucked it into his Stone Slime Sack while the unnamed pointed their torch further into the cave. "Makes sense making it safe for us to return to. If none of the others know about it it could turn into something useful for us. Like armor and proper weapons not made of stone or soft wood." He replied before gesturing for him to go first since he had the light source.

When they got moving he made sure to keep his spiked club at the ready to smash an enemies face in. The limited spikes were on the part that would make contact first just to give it that extra kick.

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@ERode

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Obtained:
Skewered Tatzelwurm, Partially Frozen Harpy

Ingested New Substance: [Pimpleshroom] Mycellium Lash
Observed and Destroyed New Hazard: Pimpleshroom Colony
Observed and Killed New Creatures: Tatzelwurm, Harpy
Crafted Items
Gathered New Resources: Chalcopyrite Ore, Mycellium Lash, Jackalope Antlers [...]

LEVEL UP! Level 2 > Level 3!
Choose ONE:

• Increase HP
• Increase SP
• Gain 1 Skill Rank
• Gain New Empty Skill Slot

Esfir's trip back to the Orc Camp was mostly uneventful, as she was passing through territory that she'd already explored and there were signs of other Runts, like that big group she'd been part of before, running around as well. By this point many prey-level monsters had probably wizened up and decided to give the camp's surroundings a wide berth. But upon reaching the camp's entrance, she was suddenly stopped by the broad palms of the two guards.

"Runts can't come back til they finish the---" one of them started to say, as if following a script, but then he stopped and looked at Esfir with fresh, surprised eyes. "Damn, another one with two? And they're the same monsters? What're the fuggin' chances?!" But then, the guard noticed the tiny flakes of ice that hadn't yet melted off the harpy's chilled corpse. "Wait, how'd you..."

"Quit wastin' time, our shift's almost done!" said the other guard. "Get in there, Runt! Go to Auguz!" The bigger creature slapped Esfir on the back and ushered her down the camp thoroughfare.

When Esfir re-entered the camp proper, it wasn't hard to find the Head Warrior. He stood on a small platform right in the middle of the thoroughfare, made from a couple of barrels that propped up a few planks of wood. The hastily put together dais seemed to be solely for the purpose of making him stand out, as none of the other orcs seemed to be paying him much mind and he wasn't waving his arms or shouting or anything.

"Another one! Good!" said the Head Warrior as he hopped down. He took Esfir's kills from her without asking or even making any gesture for them to be handed over. Then he lifted them close to his face and examined them with a long, drawn out hum. He looked at the Tatzelwurm, first with both eyes, then just his right as the left high squinted closed. Then he sniffed it, up and down the Tatzelwurm's length. Then he opened its mouth and peered inside, humming as he pressed his thumb into the hole made by her spear. Then he turned the creature upside down and licked it somewhere that didn't seem sanitary.

Following this, he held the Harpy up by its feet, and looked honestly surprised. Then he noted the ice flakes all over its wings, and glanced at Esfir with narrowed eyes. But after a moment, he shrugged, and turned the body this way and that. He tossed the Tatzelwurm back to Esfir, then shoved his entire fist down the harpy's throat as if searching for something. After an unsettling moment of watching the bird-creature's stomach bulge, the Head Warrior removed his hand and wiped it on his chest. Then he used that same hand to grab Esfir's arm and hold it up in the air.

"ALL O' YOUSE, LISTEN UP! THIS HERE RUNT--" he turned his head and whispered "What's yer name?" and then upon receiving answer he turned back to the camp--"THIS HERE RUNT, ESFIR, HAS RETURNED FROM THE HUNT!" He then set the smaller orc down, and turned in a slow circle so that the entire camp could see the bodies of Esfir's prey. "SHE HAS HUNTED TWO CREATURES! TODAY, SHE LEAVES DA BROOD PIT!" Several of the adult orcs cheered or pumped their fists, and many more gave the youngster an approving half-smile or a nod of respect. A few even looked contemplative, as if they were quite impressed. Auguz returned Esfir's kills to her.

"Now, for the rest o' the day ya can do whatever the hell ya feel like...but tomorrer mornin', you be at the Trainin' Circle before first light! And after that, we'll figure out some more duties for ya!" Auguz crossed his arms as he nodded. "But no more babyin'! Don't be goin' back to the Brood Pit---from now on, you find yer own food, yer own shelter, and whatever else! If somebody will trade ya for it, or ya take it in a fight, then more power to ya! Just be willin' to work if somebody's willin' t' give ya somethin' for it!" With that, the Head Warrior hopped back up on the dais.

QUEST COMPLETED!
Quest: Find Something to Eat and Bring it Back Whole

• Kill a Creature x2
• Keep the Target in High Quality Condition [Partially Frozen]
• Return to Camp Uninjured

A New Quest is Available:
Quest Giver: Head Warrior Auguz
Quest Details: Fulfill Duties within the Tribe (1/2 Minimum)

• Be at the Training Circle before sunrise tomorrow morning
• Find your own food (3/3 meals provided for) [Elwet, Tatzelwurm, Harpy]
• Find your own shelter
• Accept an optional Quest from another Tribe Member

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@King Cosmos

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"'Ey, where ya goin' little BAAAAY-BEEEE!?" came Builge's call as Akeno turned on her heel. "Doncha wanna tell us 'bout yer big hunt?! Huh? Hey!"

She could hear them laughing behind her, but it didn't seem like any of them were going to pursue. Although Builge sounded a little put off by the end--like most bullies, he probably wasn't pleased he couldn't get a reaction out of her.

But, now she'd seen that cause of one set of rumors. An orc was trying to build a farm, and either had problems getting the plants to grow, or a problem getting water regularly from a stopped up spring.

What were the other two? Ah, something about the blacksmith needing fuel for his forges, and better ore? And then...missing orcs in a cave down south?

Aside from that, it seemed she'd just have to find other Orcs to talk to if she wanted to do her Quest's "optional" objectives. The major players like the Shaman, Hunter, and Head Warrior were all that were left if she didn't want to get involved with the big-shot warchief, and she'd already picked up on the Blacksmith's needs...then again, maybe asking him directly could still bear some kind of fruit?

As she continued through the camp, there came a roar from further away, back towards the main thoroughfare. Apparently another one of the Runts had returned?

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@Kazemitsu

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"What, you think Orcs don't have their own forms of martial art? Big difference in fighting for survival and fighting for a trophy, pal." The dark runt chuckled as he held the torch aloft. But as the two began moving deeper into the tunnel, the jokes stopped and those orange eyes swept the tunnel cautiously. The unnamed orcling placed his looted dagger's antler handle between his teeth, and with his freed hand now slowly slid his Wooden Stick out of his loincloth's belt. Though it wasn't exactly sharp, he held it like a ready javelin thrower.

Then they heard the scuttling above them.

"You THOUGHT, em-efffeeeeeer!" yelled the Runt through a mouthful of antler as he held the torch higher and hurled his stick. The giant spider above them drew back as the reflection of the flames glittered in all of its eyes, and recoiled again when the thrown stick cracked against its head point-first.



It was hard to see whether it had done damage, but the spider frantically brushed it away from its face nonetheless. With its own ambush now turned on it, the dark runt allowed magic to crackle in his hand.

"[Miasma Bolt]!" A lance of solidified shadow and smoke leaped at the spider's eyes, and it put one leg up in defense. The elemental magic made a much louder cracking sound and the monster started backing up into the darkness, dripping a thick blue fluid. The greasy haired orc spat the dagger back into his now-magicless hand, and shouted at Grunthor.

"Did you see? It was already wounded, towards the back side! You hug that wall, I've got this one, we can corner it!"

But just then, a ball of sticky web the size of a softball came flying at them--!

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@ReusableSword

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As Agar stealthily crept away from the monster enjoying its meal, choosing discretion as the better part of valor, he soon disappeared into the brush once more. After a few minutes he came out in a very different space--the trees had thinned out for quite a ways, creating a large clearing that, somehow, remained mostly in shadow beneath a very few trees' extending, overlapping branches. In the center of the clearing where the sunlight actually fell all the way to earth, a few bushes had sprouted. Other than that, it was mostly loamy soil covered with a blanket of dried needles and a few other things...

• 6 Fragments of a strange substance that seems like petrified wood. It looks like all 6 were once part of some long, singular object?
• Red Cream Colony! (6 mushrooms)
• The 2 bushes at the center are pointy, cone-shaped shrubs with deciduous leaves that curl in tight around the plant. Beneath the leaves are clusters of blue and green berries--the blue ones look ripe enough to be edible.
• Turtleshell Mushrooms x2!
• Two supernaturally large beetles with vicious looking mandibles.

The two beetles didn't seem like they'd noticed Agar yet. They were moving towards the Red Cream colony, clicking their mouth parts like some kind of machine. As the Orc Runt observed, one of them fluttered its wings and produced a soft, bunsen-burner-blue glow in its abdomen for a moment.

The Turtleshell mushrooms were in two different parts of this clearing, near two different "corners" of the circular area (if that made any sense) diagonally from those berry bushes at the center. He might be able to get to both of them without rousing the beetles' suspicion, since the red creams were across the other way...but, then again, these were just bugs, right? Would he attempt to just squash them and freely harvest to his content?

Akeno

Thankfully, the bullying Orc wasn’t persistent enough to follow after her once she’d made it clear she was trying to leave; Akeno had been worried that he would take her walking away as a challenge or some kind of disrespect and take either as a reason to harass her further. People like that didn’t need logic to drive what they did or who they went after, often they just needed an excuse. Maybe things were different with Orcs, it wasn’t like she had any idea of Orc society worked after or, or she had misread this one and he wasn’t like that, either way it was probably better to just leave and not look back just in case.

Still, that left her with the problem of what to do next. She’d investigated one of her leads, sort of, and found it to be a dead end; Akeno didn’t know anything about farming beyond the absolute basics and if this guy knew to fertilise the soil then he was probably fine to figure out the rest. There was still the Shaman to ask, but she’d been talking to another young Orc earlier so maybe she already had things covered. The blacksmith needed wood or ore; Akeno could maybe swing an axe well enough to cut down some trees given a couple pointers, but from the sounds of it ore was the bigger issue and Akeno knew about as much about mining as she did farming.

That left the hunter, who might need some help skinning and gutting all of those creatures that she and the other Orcs had been bringing in today. Once again Akeno was in the position of not really knowing anything about the kind of work that was required of her, but she could at least handle a knife better than a saw or pickaxe. It was better than nothing, as far as leads went, so Akeno began to approach the far west side of the camp where the hunter was located.

If Akeno didn’t know why the hunter had chosen to set up shop so far out of the way before, she sure as hell figured it out once she got close enough to smell the fumes. Tanning the hides that came from their kills was… pungent work and more than once Akeno considered the idea of going anywhere else instead of pushing forward. She stuck to her decision though, continuing to walk forward and breathing through her mouth until she reached the hunter’s hut.

“Hey! Do you have any work that needs doing?”

@Zeroth

Grunthor shrugged in response to the other Runt. "Their hand to hand is probably close to the start of what boxing was or greek wrestling. But they're still tool reliant for fighting, I haven't seen a single unarmed adult." He explained, knowing about the whole survival aspect. He had been killing and hunting essentially all day and had been quite succesful. If the cat hadn't popped up in the general area he'd already be done most likely.

The unnamed one clasped the stone knife between his teeth and brought out his pointy stick when the scuttling of many legs came from above. The light of the torch, getting beaned in the face, and then blasted with magic sent the ceiling bound arachnid reeling for a moment. Unfortunately it was completely out of melee range. But he got a good view of it while it was being attacked.

"Yeah I saw. I don't have magic though." He stated as he kept his eyes on the giant spider, just to see it lob a ball of webbing at them. Somehow. They were on opposite sides of the cave tunnel. But either way he leaned out of the way to let it fly by before rummaging for a second in his Slime Sack. Taking out his Sharp Stone he launched it at the spiders bulbous abdomen.

"Lets try getting it on the ground." Grunthor said while trying to think of a way to do so beyond just chucking every rock in the cave at the thing.

So she was free now.

Esfir had met the narrowing of Auguz’s eyes with a blank stare of her own. The Head Warrior may have suspicions, certainly, but there was little need to care too much about it in the end. It was the afternoon and she had work to do now that she couldn’t rely on any welfare housing within the camp. Filtering through her memories, the runt strode towards the central firepit instead, eyeing the clusters of orcs that were gathered around there. Some stared at her, others ignored her, none reached out. And the bubbling pots were clearly for personal use.

If somebody will trade ya for it, or ya take it in a fight, then more power to ya!

Wouldn’t be worth it right now, but it was an option in the future. For the time being, she settled by the flames herself, setting her own two kills upon the soil. A medley of pleasant and unpleasant aromas mixed together: sweat, blood, cooking meat, and piss. It made her thirsty, more than anything else. She licked her lips. The greatest loss was the inability to find a source of water outside of the camp. Something else to amend in the future; it wouldn’t make sense to plan out how to leave this place without it. For now, however?

The sharp rock sliced open the belly, and the butchering began. What meat she could easily portion out was immediately cooked over open flame, while the parts that were wholly unsalvageable were tossed into the firepit instead. The Tatzelwurm’s coilbone and the Harpy’s screech valve were played with once the butchering was done, but she couldn’t figure out a particular purpose they could be used for yet. Instead, it was the strips of hide and the wing membrane that were the most promising portions. Her spear offered her the ability to hunt at a healthy range, but when it came to defenses, Esfir had plans of turning her Elwet Antlers into arm guards. Perhaps not effective enough to block a stab, but for those crimson slashes that the harpy had threatened? It’d be great to handle that without having to expend more energy on another blast of blizzard. And with the wing membrane, she could improve upon the frankly pitiful state of her regular clothing or turn it into a larger bag. Maybe even shoes.

Or if she wanted hunting tools that could work better at mid-range, she could tie rocks and those jackalope points to one of the remaining Mycellium lashes and improvise a throwing weapon that’d wrap around an animal and then both hobble and wound it. Could concoct a poisonous paste from the Rotberries and the Pimplestools as well, store it in that Etwelt Beak.

Plenty of options, plenty of things to consider. She ate up the Tatzelwurm as she chewed on her thoughts. Cooked up the Harpy meat too. A shame she didn’t have something to grind up the meat and organs in, something to wash the intestines with. A waste, not making sausage out of this. A sin, to have no spices or salt. But the food, if nothing else, was plentiful and she filled her stomach once more.

Balancing the spoils of her butchering best she could on her spear, Esfir rose up once more, allowing the excess fat to drip off from the Harpy before she strode off to the rudimentary forge she had seen on her way to the firepit. It had to belong to someone, and that someone must own such tools. The state of the pots clued her in on how most things weren’t shared within the camp. So she would trade, of course.

Striding forth, she called out to towards the one-eyed crafter present, lifting up steaming skewers of meat.

“I’m here to give you meat. In exchange, I need to use your tools. It would also be good if you could tell me about these rocks I found.” She bounced her bag, letting the clacking of rock against rock sound out. Couldn’t exactly show it though, not when both her hands were occupied. “I’m Esfir. You are?”



@Zeroth

Agar

// That's a weird dog >> The Beetles are over rated //

Again, he found himself delighted in exploring this unknown wilderness. It was exciting to see all of these creatures with similarities to those he had in his memories. These new creatures were not so different, larger than average beetles about the length of his arm they reminded him of those beetles that would throw each other off trees with their horns for territory. The name of the beetle escaped him but still it seemed to be similar.

He watched carefully from his crouched position as the beetles slowly moved towards the colony of red creams. At least this did tell him he could possibly use these mushrooms to help tame or befriend some of these beasts. They did look like their mandible’s could pack a punch but as one of them fluttered its wings he saw an ominous glow for a moment. At least he knew now that these things could likely have some sort of flight ability and something he could only assume was magical in nature under them. Maybe they had something like that bombard beetle that spits acid. It wasn’t a pleasant thought and not one he wanted to find out either.

He could see some strange berries in the middle of the clearing but felt like that would leave him too exposed even with the beetles eating at the other end of the clearing. Those strange round objects piqued his interest but he knew he was here for a reason other than just scouting. He had to acquire those turtle shell mushrooms. Now would probably be the best time for it while the beetles were distracted.

Looking about the patch of area he quickly devised a plan and set it in motion. Agar didn’t want to spook the beetles and just run out into the open. Continuing to use his Muffle I skill he would crouch walk around the opening to collect one turtle shell mushroom then back track and go along the other side to get the other mushroom. Once both were collected and if the beetles were still busy with those mushrooms then he would slowly low bear crawl out to the circular objects and collect them. Making sure to keep himself alert and an escape route known incase he had to move quick from some unseen threat.

---

@Zeroth

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@ERode

---

The huge orc blacksmith, the one the other adults called Bowbh, worked under a simple wooden shed. Several tall wooden posts had been planted into the earth, and thinner branches formed a frame for a sloping straw roof on one side. Underneath this shed, a furnace of fired clay bricks had been built along with bellows made from animal skins. Crude tables of both wood and stone held various tools and a few works in progress, although for a "blacksmith" it seemed like he worked as much with tree branches and knapped blades as much as he did with any actual metal. In place of an anvil he simply had a huge, square slab of stone. Its upper half had been blackened over time by the heat of objects laid upon it, and a fine layer of ash and soot.

He looked up with his one bright eye as Esfir approached. One of his hands rhythmically tugged a rope to work the bellows, which in return pushed the fire up through the top of the kiln. Its bright yellow glow cast shadows over the workshop even in the afternoon light.

"Use 'em...tools?" The big orc's voice sounded a rumbling thundercloud. Much like the orc Esfir had run into near the northern caves, Bowbh was probably one of the "Brute" variants of the species. "F'r wot?"

Esfir stated that she also wanted him to look at the ore chunks she'd found. She gave her bag a shake, but didn't actually show the blacksmith what was inside--but, when that distinct clickity clack rang out, the blacksmith stopped working the bellows.

"Rock-forming metallic ore?!" said the Orc with oddly perfect enunciation. He took one booming step towards Esfir and held his hand out--not for the cooked bird monster, but for her bag. Assuming she at least let him see the pieces of ore inside, if not give him a piece to examine, he would suck a sharp breath through his nose and blow it out with a satisfied "Oooooh!"

"Chalco...pyrite. Copper-iron-sulfide!" The fingers of one broad, gloved hand wiggled and twitched in excitement. "And...Bufonite? Not metal, but magic!" He would return whatever Esfir had presented, then his voice rumbled again.

"Whur 'um...got dis?" After hearing her answer, he rubbed his chin, looked back at his tools, and then back at the Runt. "F'r meat...giv'um one tool'r'weapon--small, mind." Then he pointed at her bag again. "If'um git mores..." He held up five fingers, "Letcha use m'pick." He gestured to his kiln. "And...will forge f'r 'um."

A new Optional Quest is available!
Quest: Get Ore for Bowbh
Quest Giver: Bowbh the Blacksmith
Quest Details: Bowbh needs more ore to make various things for the tribe. If you bring him at least 5 Ore Pieces, he will forge you one item of your choice (so long as the needed materials are available). No time limit.
Other Options:

• Bring an Ore of High Quality
• Bring more than 5 Ore Pieces
• Bring a Rare Ore

Do you Accept? Y/N

---

@King Cosmos

---

"Hm?" Shamar looked at Akeno with a tilt of her head and a raised eyebrow. "Anudda Runt, huh? Interestin'." She then looked at the hanging animals she'd been about to select, and over at some of the other hides she'd been working on. Nodding to herself, she gestured for Akeno to follow her and walked around the side of the yurt.

"You got a Sharp Rock or a knife? Den flesh 'em for me!" She pointed to two more freshly peeled hides. They were lying across a small piece of propped up wood that would remind Akeno of a miniature ironing board, set at a forty-five degree angle. Fur side down, they'd been stretched over the fleshing board and apparently freshly washed in a dingy bucket of water nearby. The remaining bits of fat and flesh that had once bound the hides to their owners faced the sunlight. "Try not to put any holes in them, but get the blood and gunk off while they're fresh!"

Then, Shamar pointed to another bucket near the back of the yurt. This one appeared to be filled with chunky, crystalline rock salts. "When ya finish scrapin', salt 'em down good and thick! Lay 'em on a rock with da fur underneath so's dey start dryin'." Then, the Head Hunter walked back to the front of the yurt, taking Akeno by the shoulder and turning her to look towards the large, smelly tub and a few hides hanging over a sawhorse made from lashed logs. "Dem there already been salted, so put 'em in the tannin' tub and push 'em 'round with a stick til they good and soaked!"

Finally, the orcish ranger indicated several hides that had been tied between wooden frames. "Then, ya go to them over there! They already been tanned and smoked dry--use dat wooden comb, right dere, and rub 'em down good til da fur side is soft. Then gather 'em up and bring 'em to me!"

A new Optional Quest is available!
Quest: Tannery Crash Course
Quest Giver: Shamar the Head Hunter
Quest Details: Shamar processes various animal products for the tribe. She's given you a list of steps, each of which would normally take a day or more on its own, to complete with pre-prepared animal skins. Correctly perform each step before gathering the already finished hides and delivering them to Shamar. Time Limit: Before sunset.

Do you Accept? Y/N

"If ya get done quick, I might 'ave a li'l sumthin' for ya!" Shamar patted the runt on the head, then pulled the stone knife from her belt and started butchering one of the hanging animals.

Judging by the position of the sun, and making a rough guess at all these chores she'd been given, Akeno could probably finish this task in around two hours, if that was what she wanted to spend what was left of the afternoon doing...

---

---

---

@Kazemitsu

---

As Grunthor leaned away from the web-ball, the other Runt advanced forward waving his torch back and forth. The spider scuttled back again, dripping fluid from its two wounds. When Grunthor threw his Sharp Rock, the arachnid scuttled faster in order to dodge--but rather than go forward at the torch, it kept going back. As the ember-eyed orcling saw further ahead, he let out an "Aha!" and pointed one finger of his knife hand up at the spider's head.

"[Miasma Bolt!]"

The crackling lance of darkness once again shot through the air, but the spider could easily see it coming. It backed up once more--and now revealed that this part of the cave curved around towards another tunnel. It had hit the edge of the roof, and was now scuttling down the sloping wall at the corner. It wasn't on the ground--but, it was within reach!

"Catch!" said the dark-haired runt as he kicked Grunthor's rock (which had, of course, fallen on the ground again after being lobbed) back towards the former boxer. With both torch and knife at the ready, he closed in from one side of the spider. "See if you can crush its legs!"

In their peripheral vision, both orcs would see that the curving tunnel sloped deeper down into the earth. The drag-marks also continued down the path. But, against the side of the wall further down, where the torch's light barely illuminated, was something lumpy and green wearing animal hides, unmoving...

---

---

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@ReusableSword

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Obtained Items:
Petrified Fragment x6
Turtleshell Mushroom x2 (2/5 For Quest!)

The stealthy Orcling was able to avoid arousing any suspicion from the Beetles. As they reached the Red Cream colony, their sharp mandibles snip-snapped the fat mushroom stalks with ease and they quickly began shredding and eating the white-and-red fungi. With them distracted, Agar was able to pick up his two primary targets, the green, shell-textured mushrooms. He was also able to get the six strange pieces of what seemed to be petrified wood.

From the look of their shapes, they had once been a singular branch. But after being petrified, they'd also been broken. While lighter than stone, they were no less hard or cold. But for wood to petrify took...well, a long time, didn't it? Yet these pieces were just here on top of the grass, as if the branch had fallen in a recent storm?

In any case, he'd accomplished what he wanted to in this particular area of the forest. He could either go north, south, or east...West would just take him back to the Hodag's hunting ground and that large red bird. Maybe he could risk that, if he thought they'd moved on in the twenty minutes or so he'd spent sneaking around?

Speaking of time, though, if he was right about the sun's position being roughly 2:00 PM when he'd gotten to this Deep Forest, then he'd probably spent about forty minutes hunting for mushrooms so far. He could afford to spend a little more time here, but the hour-long trip back to the Orc Camp probably wasn't one he wanted to make in the dark.

What would he do next?

Five more of these for craftswork from Bowbh?

Esfir recalled the pots she had seen. Useful, useful things they were. It was clear that she didn’t have enough at the moment, but that just meant she’d need to visit those caves once more. It was too late into the afternoon now to venture out, not after the warning given to her by an Orc Brute, but it gave her another short-term goal.

“A fair deal. I’ll take one of those smaller axes then, for the meat. Expect me tomorrow, Bowbh, with the ores.” The axe was a puny thing, but would fit her current size well enough. A knife may work better immediately, but the heft of an axe leant it to more uses later on.

She waved her goodbyes to the craftsorc, before returning to the firepit, taking a circuitous route in hopes of spying a river or another source of water on the way back. Regardless of if she did or didn’t, Esfir would pick out a large, flat rock from the outcroppings that the camp was built upon, using that as a rudimentary table as she worked by the fireside. With her stomach already filled, she put her attention first upon constructing the arm guards she had initially planned on building. Laying out the Elwet Antlers that she had, Esfir measured them alongside the length of her forearms, before cutting them to size as necessary with her newly-obtained hand-axe. The stone she had picked out was used to grind down the sharpest edges that remained, before she took out one of her Jackalope Points next. Using it as a substitute for a drill, she struck it into the Antlers using the back of her axe, intent on punching holes in them so strips of hide could be threaded through them afterwards. She blew the dust of from those holes, checking once more for fit, before Esfir moved on to measuring the length of the skin strips she had. If there was a surplus, she would twine the Harpy Skin Strips with the Tatzelwurm Hide Strips to reinforce the strength of the bindings. If there wasn’t, then she would simply have to deal with it.

One would hope that the final product was good, but even if it wasn’t, Esfir would be satisfied so long as the product could save her arm once or twice from a prey’s Slash.



@Zeroth

While the spider kept scuttling backwards the two orcs kept their pursuit. Fastest chase in all the land, cautious steps forward with defensive scuttles backwards. But the spider hit a wall, literally, and had lowered itself enough to get into melee range while trying to avoid physical and magical projectiles. The unnamed one kicked Grunthor's sharp stone back to him, which was tossed up into his empty hand with a flick of his toes. Practiced ease from being to lazy to bend down and pick up his washcloth in the human world.

"Fine, but watch my back. I'm not in the mood to be lunch." He replied as he darted in. The spiked club drawn back before coming forward in a hard swing towards the spiders legs. Damn things were as big as a king crabs back home but significantly less spiky. He had taken note of the form off to the side, but it wasn't his priority. Grounding and pummeling the spider was his main priority right now.

Agar

// The Beetles are over rated >> Must go deeper //

Somehow, he was hoping he might have stumbled upon some broken weapon but alas all he received from acquiring the petrified pieces was more questions. He only made a quick glance up towards the trees before low crawling back the way he came out. He wasn’t interested in combat now, maybe if there was only one of those beetles but he could tell he didn’t have the time if he wanted to complete his quest.

Reapplying the mud camo as he slowly crept back into the dark forest, Agar decided that he would still move at his cautioned pace but just a little quicker with Muffle I active. He knew he didn’t have very much time left and didn’t want to walk back during the night if he could help it. So, the orcling decided to continue to explore this strange land and its creatures by heading north deeper into the forest in search of his mushrooms.

---

@Zeroth

Akeno

The process of preparing a hide for tanning was, as Akeno was quickly discovering, dirty, smelly and physically intensive work. Strip the flesh, salt them down, soak them in water, smoke them dry and then comb them out; it was a lot of work for what was apparently a single Orc to be doing by herself, but given the smell, she could see why no one was volunteering for this. No one but her, apparently.

There was still the option of turning around and walking away. She hadn’t committed to anything, the work was hard and the hunter hadn’t even guaranteed that she’d get anything worthwhile at the end of this; she could walk away, try her luck somewhere else, or just try to fend for herself. But…

Walking away at this point, just because the work sounded difficult felt like admitting defeat. Would any other Orc in the camp even give her work if she shied away from this? Could they trust her to follow through if she backed down from a challenge? Maybe it was arrogant to think that anyone would even pay attention, maybe she was over-estimating these Orcs who mocked someone for trying to fertilise the soil, maybe they wouldn’t care.

Akeno let out a sigh and turned away from the bloody, gorey hides and walked away, eyes lowered to the ground.

Then, a few meters away, she bent down to pick up a reasonably sharp rock that fit in the palm of her hand and walked right back.

If asked, Akeno probably wouldn’t describe herself as a particularly hard-working person. She coasted through her studies at a school her parents paid the tuition for, her social life mostly consisted of her being dragged along by those more outgoing than herself, her home life was similarly unattended and she had little drive to improve herself in either area. She was the type of person to let herself by carried along by the flow rather than push to move in a different direction instead; thing were easier that way. Less resistance. The one except to this was her dedication to karate; rather than sit back, she spent a couple of hours in the dojo two or three days a week training and longer on the weekends, worked out a home on the days she didn’t and went on frequent runs. Then, she took that effort and entered herself into competitions, tournaments, to see how much her dedication was worth compared to other peoples.

Most people would call that sort of thing hard work she supposed, but to her it was just something she did because she enjoyed it or sometimes just because she had an aversion to being sedentary. There was a desire to improve, and satisfaction when it happened, but no driving goal beyond that; her black belt had come as a matter of course, any improvements to her technique or fitness a matter of time and experience. She’d only ever placed higher than fourth in a competition once and that was when she came second a month or two before her eighteenth birthday; the trophy from that was the largest she’d ever won and though proud of it, Akeno ended up stuffing it in the back of her closet because she didn’t have anywhere to put it and didn’t want to make room.

She’d see it back there sometimes and think about doing something with it, but…

The point was Akeno was someone who put in exactly as much effort as she felt like putting in to something and had so far managed to coast by on just that. She was not a hard worker. She was a teenager in high school, or had been one at least, approaching the end of her final year and trying to figure out what to do once she got to college. The life of an Orc, by comparison, looked like it was going to one of constant physical effort. At the beginning of the day she had been asked to go out into the wilderness and fighting a wild animal to the death to earn herself the right to stay in the tribe or whatever these Orcs called themselves. All she’d really done was earn the right to fend for herself; find her own food, her own place to sleep, secure her own safety.

So she might as well get started. Placing the flat edge of the rock at the top of the sheet of hide, Akeno angled it so that it formed a wedge relative to its surface and dragged it down the length of the wooden board it was resting on. It accumulated a good amount of fleshy, bloody gunk along the way, some of it climbing up the rock to coat Akeno’s hands too, which she then shook off into the bucket of dirty water for lack of a better option. She continued at this until it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to get any more off, not with the tool she had anyway, and stepped back to examine her work.

Her hand was cramping around the rock; both of them, since she’d had to swap hands a couple of times to let the other rest, but from what she could tell the job she had done had been… adequate. Time for the next step then, which had been… salting, right.

Now where was that bucket of salt?

@Zeroth

---

@ERode

---

Obtained New Item!

Flint Hatchet - Equip, Weapon/Tool - A sharper edge than a Stone Hatchet of equivalent size, but lighter and more brittle. Requires more strength and proper alignment to get a good chop, but most wood will be cut faster.

Borrowed Antler Pickaxe - Equip, Weapon/Tool - A pickaxe made with a sturdy piece of wood and a sharpened antler. Can harvest softer stones and some ores! It can be used as a piercing weapon, even on hard shelled creatures, but it wasn't designed for that. High Quality. On Loan from Bowbh.

You've attempted to Craft something!
Process: Handcrafts
Tools: Flint Hatchet, Jackalope Point
Materials: Elwet Antlers, Harpy Hide Strips, Tatzelwurm Hide Strips

...Success! However, a Tool was broken:
Jackalope Point > Broken Jackalope Point

Obtained Items:
Antler Bracer (Elwet-Harpy)
Antler Bracer (Elwet-Tatzelwurm)

Antler Bracers - Equip, Armor - A type of bone armor used to protect the arms. Materials such as fangs, teeth, horn, antler, etc can be quite tough, but typically aren't as hard as metals. They are somewhat resistant to physical damage, though less so against Blunt impacts. Light Defense Boost!

Before settling to her crafts, Esfir made another loop of the camp to search for any source of water. It turned out there was a mountain spring of some kind available...however, there also seemed to be a problem.

The spring came from somewhere higher up the mountain-side near the back end of the camp, and the orcs had constructed a rough channel from where it naturally spilled out of the rocks to a pool down on level ground. Piles of rock and bark made small dams to redirect the stream, another stone had been cracked apart and cleared so that a ditch could be dug into the dirt, then it led to a koi-pond-sized, circular hole lined with gravel at the bottom. Another channel had been dug that led under part of the camp's fence, so that if the pool ever got full enough to overflow the excess would be carried away from the tents.

However, currently it seemed like only a bathtub's worth of water was left in the pool, and it looked somewhat cloudy. As Esfir turned from it to seek out a place to do her crafts, she would see two orcs lowering a large clay pot into the water and then hauling it out between them, reducing the supply by a gallon's worth.

"Won't be long afore we gotta start goin' to da lake again with them stupid big tubs!" grumbled one. "Why's it keep stoppin' like dat!?"

"The place it comes out is all clear--gotta be somethin' higher up on da mountain!" snarled the other, as his companion foisted all the weight onto him. He hefted it easily enough, but didn't look thrilled about it. "Either the underground is blocked, or somethin' plugged it at the mouth!"

Esfir now had new tools, new armor, and at least one new objective. Giving away her Harpy meant that she might need to find another meal before the night was over--although, based on what her body felt now, it seemed going without three squares a day wouldn't starve her even if she was a growing Runt. Aside from that, the only thing left to do on her "checklist" following Auguz's orders was to find some shelter.

---

@King Cosmos

---

Despite the "System's" similarities, this certainly wasn't the same as a videogame even compared to an "immersive" RPG--in something like that, a task like "tanning leather" simply required killing some randomly generated animal (a task she now knew from experience to be painful, scary, and tiring) hitting a few buttons to "loot" it (compared to physically carving the bloody things open with a rock, or skewering their meaty bits over a fire, or lugging them over one's shoulder down a mountain), and then walking to some arbitrarily assigned merchant or crafting station to hit a few more buttons. Boom, instant leather, which with a few more clicks would become a piece of armor or something else useful.

No. Her hands kept cramping; she was covered in gunk up to her elbows; the salt stung the tiny cuts and scrapes holding the rock's sharp edges gave her; the tanning solution apparently had brains and who knew what else mixed into it, and the smell was more than positively foul...

Was Shamar making her do so many things just to make it more convenient for herself? Or was this just how it had to be? The orcs were primitive, and crude, and brutal...and yet, humans had been forced to do these same things at some point in their history. Hunting one's own food. Making tools and shelter by hand.

Forced. Akeno didn't consider herself a hard worker, but neither had she exactly figured out what it was she would've done with her life if she hadn't had someone else breathing down her neck all the time. School, extracurriculars, college--it was all just a matter of meeting her parents' expectations. Karate had been something she'd chosen for herself, and she had been able to choose how much effort she wanted to put into it. But now, here she was again, being forced to do things just to...just to survive?

Not for her parents' approval. Not for a grade. Not for money. Maybe not because she wanted to...but not because anyone else made her, either. This was for her survival.

By the time she finished, her hands felt like she'd been holding them up to a sandpaper grinder, her forearms ached, and her nose hairs might've singed. But, if she ever had to go it alone in this new world, at least now she had an idea of how to tan pelts...right?

"Hmm!" Shamar, whose hands were also bloody up to the elbows--save that hers looked much fresher, considering the bowls under her kills were slap full of crimson goop--laid a freshly harvested hide over the fleshing board Akeno had cleared. She looked over the Runt's work, occasionally sniffing a hide or clicking her tongue. The "finished" set that Akeno had just finished tying to the drying racks caused the Head Hunter to curl the corner of her lip up over one fang in a half-smile. She watched Akeno combing the last of the pelts before nodding her head.

"Good job, Runt! Yas got a lot betta hand-eye-quarter-nations den any o' dese udda mukhs! Wait right dere!" Shamar disappeared into the yurt for a moment. Akeno heard several kinds of shuffling and objects tossed around, before the scout reemerged...with a rough, yet warm looking hide vest. It even had a design on it, which looked like it'd been "burned" into the material with a hot piece of charcoal or something--a rough outline of a deer's head with antlers like lightning bolts.

"It's a little big, but ya tug dese here cords on da side to tighten it up!" The hunter pointed out. "You's lucky ya did every-ting right--if ya had messed up or tore my pelts, I was only gonna give ya some strips and cordage!" She practically shoved it into Akeno's hands, but thankfully all the gore both of them were covered with didn't seem like it would permanently stain. "Made it myself wif a Bowhorn buckskin!"

QUEST COMPLETE!
Quest: Tannery Crash Course

Reward Obtained: Bowhorn Deer Vest - Equip, Armor - A simple leather vest, but Bowhorn hide is tougher than that of a normal deer. It is somewhat resistant to physical damage, though less so against Slashing blades. Light Defense Boost!

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@Kazemitsu

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As Grunthor closed in on the spider, from this side he could see the earlier wound his companion had talked about. It wasn't one either of them had inflicted--but there was a gash of some kind across the back of its thorax, and one of its legs had been injured. How long ago? That didn't seem like a clean blade swipe, but whatever it was had at least given them a helping hand.

His club came down on another leg, eliciting a loud crunch as the chitinous joint gave way! Considering the damage the dark orcling had done, that should be three of eight down? The spider screeched! But, even as he dealt it a wound, Grunthor barely saw two more legs flash. One of them slammed into his shoulder, and he felt the bite of two small (relatively) hook-like claws. But they only poked him hard enough to draw blood; the spider's goal had been to push him away, and thus it had. He landed on his bum just in time for its other claw to slash at his club--with a crack, another one of the bone spikes shattered and the wooden haft lost a splintery chunk!

"[Miasma Bolt]!" The distinct sound of dark magic followed the other Runt's voice. "Make it worth--Yeah!" The spider screeched again and reeled back, rotating its body on the wall. Part of its face was now covered in the blue fluid that passed for its blood, but now its head was upright and its fat bottom hung low.

Low enough that it sprayed a wide arc of liquid web at both of them!

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@ReusableSword

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Agar crept further north, and found himself coming across the same game trail he had encountered when he first entered the area--or, at least, it was roughly the same width and seemed about the same age judging by the state of plantlife around it. In this area, too, the trees had thinned somewhat and most of the ground was covered in grass and moss. He could see, clustered around the roots of a tree less than two meters from his current position, several mushrooms!

A single Red Cream cap stood out due to its distinctive colors...as did a lone Turtleshell! There were three more, pointy-capped mushrooms that were shiny silver towards their tops, dulling to gray, then black, then rusty red towards the base.

Further on than that, to the west-side of Agar's vision, was a cluster of black bushes. Even from here, he could smell something like...dog poop? Rotting eggs? Whatever it was, it was NOT pleasant. The plants were short, scrabbly things with hanging seed pods that looked like...well, the kind of thing that would smell like dog poo.

And underneath those bushes, almost unnoticeable save for the fact that Agar's muffled steps hadn't alerted it and thus its head swiveled slowly from the opposite direction...A Tatzelwurm!

He'd seen a lot of this creature before and could probably take it, especially with the advantage of surprise--it wasn't an unknown quantity like that horned gator or the beetles. But, maybe he could also just grab the mushrooms and go...?

It wasn’t a lot of water, and it wasn’t the cleanest water either, but she wasn’t exactly doing things in a very clean manner either. The cloudiness must come from the minerals that the spring had picked up from its underground path. Esfir approached the reservoir, using her hand to scoop up some water to taste regardless.

There was definitely a grittiness to it. Unfiltered, it tasted hard.

Shouldn’t kill her though, probably. Worst case scenario, she’ll make herself throw up. And tomorrow, she’d find time to head up the mountains again to mine for the ores and get her pot. If she could trace the blockage of the spring and solve that, that was two birds in one stone.

But first?

Esfir emptied out the contents of her stomach-bag nearby, before using it to scoop up some water herself. Bringing the dripping sack away from the pool, the orc grunt looked over what remained of her kill. It was all organs, blood, and intestines, and it was the intestines that she went over first. Pinching at the organs, she tugged at them to check for how durable they were, before promptly sectioning off only the parts that did not tear. Next, she emptied out the contents of the intestines best she could, sliding her fingers against the length of the organ, before squeezing some water from her bag down them to wash out what she could. Inverting the intestines came next, a process that involved sticking one of her Tungem branches against the outside, before threading it through the hole. It took a bit longer due to the thickness of the branch itself, but the intestines, fresh as they were, stretched well enough to accommodate it. With it turned inside out, the vestigial contents were fully exposed, and Esfir scraped away at it with the ‘handle’ of her sharp rock while emptying out the remaining water in her bag to clean up the intestines.

A primitive job, all things considered, but it was a process that would give her sausage casings. And as for the filling?

Placing the remaining organs and blood of the Tatzelwurm and Harpy upon a flat rock, Esfir sat down cross-legged as she took out the Flint Hatchet she got from Bowbh. She alternated between the edge and the back while she struck away, keeping each individual blow gentle enough that there wasn’t too much of a splatter. It was a rhythmic, skill-less process, one that could almost be considered ‘rest’. Old habits did not disappear with new environments. Perhaps she would never be able to shake off her need to cook every part of the animals she catches. She gave away the harpy’s meat for a tool, but if she could help it, Esfir never intended to go hungry again.
Organs and blood mashed together into something that could serve as filling, Esfir finished things off by using the screech valve she had collected from the Harpy as a funnel to push it into the casings she had made. Aiming for sausage links the length of her hand, she twisted them where necessary until there was no more filling left. It was unseasoned, and lord knew how tasty the organs even were, and she wasn’t even going to have a pot to boil them in, but…

Sausage was sausage.

Esfir stood up, sausage links wrapped around one arm, and returned to the communal fire, where she intended to cook them.



@Zeroth

Agar

// Must go deeper >> Something smells //

The forest, although dark with lots of unknowns, was actually peaceful even with understanding that standing out in a place like this either means your stupid or strong. This place reminded him of home, the thought broke his concentration for a moment thinking of his family and what the goddess had said about them. Stepping on and cracking a small stick on the game trail pulled him from his thoughts. Cursing himself for losing focus on what he needed to do.

Resuming his carful walk, Agar happened upon another small clearing. He could immediately see the mushrooms in the middle of the forest. Still without rushing he scanned the tree line around him. He smelled something that came off as rotten or dog poop. He could only guess could be coming from the strange tree at the other side of the clearing. A slight movement showed another tazelwurm lurking beneath it but it wasn’t looking in his direction.

The orcling gazed at the trees above them to make sure it was alone. He didn’t have enough time to see if they were communal or lone hunters. So, he decided to continue forward slowly in his low crawl up to the mushrooms to pick them while continueing his use of Muffle I. Glancing up from the mushrooms to look up towards the cat.

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@Zeroth