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.

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

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.

[b]“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.”[/b] 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. [b]“I’m Esfir. You are?”[/b]

[hider=Skills][list]
[*][b]Ingestion[/b] - [i]After consuming a required amount of biomass from a particular Creature, 1 of that Creature's Skills can be copied at its lowest Rank.[/i]
[*][b]Frost Arc[/b] - Rank I - [i]An expanding spray of icy cold, over 10 feet in one direction and 5 feet wide at its furthest edge. The cold is more intense the closer the target is to the origin, reaching its lowest temperature within a span of about 2 feet. It constantly expends Magic Power the longer the cone is maintained.[/i]
[*][b]Murderous Intent[/b] - Rank II - [i]Focus hatred and the desire to kill through the subtle senses. A creature that is weaker than you must exert its willpower or be Intimidated (Intimidated creatures suffer reduced speed). A creature that is already Intimidated, Shocked, or Unaware may instead become Fearful and be unable to act for 5 seconds. Creatures that are stronger than you can only be Intimidated by this Skill if they are already Shocked or Unaware, but their willpower threshold is higher.[/i]
[*]Empty Skill Slot[/list][/hider]
[hider=Equipment and Inventory][list]
[*][b]Swaddling Pelts[/b] - Equip, Clothes - [i]Old animal skins used to keep an Orc baby warm as they sleep. Once the Runt is old enough to start hunting, these are usually just enough to cover the parts that need the most covering.[/i]
[*][b]Sharp Rock[/b] - Equip, Weapon/Tool, Material Component - [i]A rock with a slightly sharp edge. Useful as a primitive knife or chisel. Can be thrown.[/i]
[*][b]Jackalope Spear[/b] - 2H Weapon - [i]A decent, if primitive spear. Not suitable as a throwing weapon due to its weight, but made of tough, sturdy materials. Jackalope horn is surprisingly sharp, almost as much so as metal.[/i]
[*][b]Stomach-Bag[/b] - Small bag, improved from an Elwet's stomach.
[*][b]Elwet Antlers[/b]
[*][b]Rotleaves x5[/b]
[*][b]Rotleaf Seedpods x6[/b]
[*][b]Gizzard Sparkstone[/b]
[*][b]Elwet Feathers[/b]
[*][b]Raw Chalcopyrite Ore x3[/b]
[*][b]Bufonite x3[/b]
[*][b]Tungem Branch x3[/b]
[*][b]Jackalope Point x4[/b]
[*][b]Broken Jackalope Point[/b]
[*][b]Pimplestool Mushroom x2[/b]
[*][b]Crushed Pimplestool[/b]
[*][b]Mushroom Shreds x3[/b]
[*][b]Mycellium Lash x2[/b]
[*][b]Frayed Mycellium Lash x2[/b]
[*][b]Cracked Tatzelwurm Fang x1[/b]
[*][b]Tatzelwurm Fang x2[/b]
[*][b]Tatzelwurm Claws x3[/b]
[*][b]Cracked Tatzelwurm Claws x2[/b]
[*][b]Tatzelwurm Coilbone x1[/b]
[*][b]Crushed Tatzelwurm Eye x2[/b]
[*][b]Tatzelwurm Hide Strip x2[/b]
[*][b]Harpy Tooth x1[/b]
[*][b]Harpy Talon x3[/b]
[*][b]Broken Harpy Talon x1[/b]
[*][b]Harpy Wing Membrane x2[/b]
[*][b]Harpy Screech Valve x1[/b]
[*][b]Harpy Skin Strips x2[/b]
[/list]
[/hider]
[@Zeroth]