Aristocles

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-413

Magic RP (Open to new players)

@Shadow Dragon

I'm here. Wasn't sure if you were. I can reply. My job is starting to get back to normal, so I've been busy making preparations for what I have to do for that.

Hello there

@skitts

Nice to see a new face around here! Welcome to the guild! I'm sure you'll find plenty of good RPs.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-412

Halo: Aegis Team

Ben-E218

Ben saw the Unggoy sleeping in the stairwell. He would have said something, but he was just too cute to disturb. Such sloth would have been lethal on the battlefield, God knows Ben killed plenty of sleeping Grunts who were caught dozing in the middle of a warzone. Why The Covenant had tolerated such behavior was beyond him. Even normal human soldiers and marines would get in serious trouble for nodding off when they were supposed to be on duty.

The mammoth had come to a halt. The Spartan-III took the opportunity to scan the horizon once again, only to find no immediate threats, although he did spot a few drones in the extreme distance, though none of them approached the mammoth. When the others began to gather around Vael, Ben joined the rest of his team, careful to keep his distance from the Elite; he had a feeling that his species preferred to have a fair amount of personal space. He spoke to Vael, inquiring on their status.

"Have we received further orders? We're halted here out in the open, and we're exposed. No one has attacked us since we entered the mammoth, but our luck can't last forever."

Goblins of the Wilds

@BigPapaBelial@Searat

"I would never think to refuse such a wonderful gift! Thank you, thank you! Fine iron. Like the kind the chief uses. It's better than I deserve, but I promise to but it to good use." Breden's mind raced with the possibilities. He reached out to his blade and firmly grasped it. To a human, it would be a long dagger, but for a goblin, this was basically a multipurpose sword. It was perfect for skinning animals, self-defense, hacking through dense foliage, cutting up meat, and to a lesser extent, impressing the ladies with perceived martial prowess.

He noticed that Griz was handing over his old blade. "Oh, Griz. I know that old dagger means a lot to you, but having two blades means that some goblin who needs a knife or something like that won't have one, and your new weapon is so much better. Kog will make sure your old one will be put to the best use possible. Thank you again, Koglan."

Halo: Aegis Team

Ben-E218

"If you aren't certain what the result is when combining them, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to combine them. I doubt either of us has the luck of John-117. Oh, you might know him as Master Chief, or "The Demon." He has unnatural luck, you know. If it was him, the effect would be just what we needed at just the right time. If it's anyone else, we're likely to end up deader than Roger Wilco on a trash hauler. Oh, the Wilco thing is from an ancient piece of human media."

Ben continued to examine the power source. He was fairly certain that he knew what this was, but couldn't be entirely sure. He lowered his voice, not wanting anyone to know what he was saying.

"Phong, does this match any device on record?"

"Scanning. Processing. Cross-examining device with other records. Match not found."

"Match not-? The UNSC has had the opportunity to examine hundreds of Forerunner devices, including sentinels."

"Thousands, actually. The Forerunners had a very different approach to technology compared to humanity or the Covenant. While interchangeable parts were employed, they were only used to the extent that interoperability within the same class of structures was allowed, and sometimes, not even then. In other words, each class of Forerunner installation operated on a different basis, in a manner not dissimilar to how ancient human kingdoms each had their own types of weight and measurements."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning we don't know what the effect of the Unggoy's tinkering will be. It could be harmless, or it could be catastrophic. I am unable to calculate odds based on the data available. It would help to know precisely what the Unggoy intends to do with the Forerunner technology, but even if he told us, further analysis is impossible without the proper equipment, and there are only five laboratories in the entire UNSC properly tooled to handle Forerunner-"

"Thank you, Phong. I'll trust Grik on this one." Ben set the power source down and looked out at the wilderness around them, if that was the proper term for their environment.

Goblins of the Wilds

@BigPapaBelial@Searat

"Alright, then. I'll- oh, Griz. I guess we'll go to Koglan's forge. And maybe see Ashe later, if she isn't too busy. Feels like we haven't seen her in weeks, but it was only a couple of days since we last saw her. Go figure. I'll head on to Koglan's, then. And little girl? While Koglan is a goblin to be trusted, don't go around accepting treats from strangers, please. Suppose it was a human who offered you that apple, or worse, a human food made with honey. Or even sugar! Don't take the bait. They just want to lure you in an kidnap you." He would have elaborated, but he didn't want to lecture the girl too much. Goblin slaves were known to be cheap labor, especially for household tasks. While the humans in the nearby village didn't practice slavery, many other groups of humans and other species did, particularly those taken from the "lesser races" such as goblins and kobolds.

Perhaps it was best that she got the apple from Koglan himself, though. A goblin that young would have a hard time finding her way back to the village if she had gone out as far as the human orchards, and it was likely that she'd have difficulty getting through the woods in any event. The same forest which hid the goblin village also acted as something of a barrier to leaving it. The dense foliage was tough to navigate, especially for a young goblin, whose feet hadn't developed the thick soles of an adult yet. Breden himself had tried to get through the woods as a boy, only to find that he had to turn back halfway after stepping on one too many thorns and rocks. Even today, his feet were still a bit soft, but they were rapidly toughening up with all the hunting he had done lately.

Breden headed down the well-trod road to Koglan's hut, and by well-trod, one could literally see the many footprints goblins had left going to and from the smithy. It seemed as if Koglan's wares were in demand. That wasn't necessarily a good sign. High levels of weapon-making usually preceded a war, and there had been talk of conflict not too long ago. Of course, it had come to nothing, but it was still a concern. While he wasn't the only smith in the entire village, one could count the number of smiths on their fingers in this tribe, and Koglan was by far the most skilled and hardest-working.

He heard the whooshing sounds of the forge as he approached the rather large hut and stepped inside, feeling the heat even from the front entrance.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

(how did it skip from -383 to -389? I assume you meant -384)

-383

Goblins of the Wilds

@Searat@BigPapaBelial

(There's a bit of a timeskip, so Breden will speak to Griz when they meet again.)

The last couple of days had been interesting for Breden. Ashe had gone on to do whatever it was she did with her alchemical reagents, while Breden and Griz had taken their shares of the meat and gone their own ways. After donating a bit of the food to the tribe's granary, Breden had taken a day off from hunting to practice with his spear, as well as to catch up on sleep. Goblins didn't have the same stamina as humans did and often took a nap in the day. This wasn't a luxury afforded to hunters or for farmers during the harvest season.

Today, Breden's hunt by himself had gone reasonably well, with three rabbits caught; two in a trap he had set and one killed personally with his spear. He had just made it back home when he saw a young goblin girl waiting in front of his hut, still eating the green apple Koglan had given her. This was something of a treat, given that only humans grew those fruits in this area. Either it had been traded for or it been stolen in the night. If it was Koglan, he likely bought it fair and square, but for those goblins who knew where the human orchards were, robbing apples was something of a means of survival, even if ran the risk of angering the humans if caught. As far as humans were concerned, goblins robbing apples was a child's story, but too many losses would make them learn the truth.

"Uh, hi there, little girl. Aren't you a bit young to be wandering off from your mother?"

Meanwhile...

Siwa hadn't gone dancing lately. With Koglan helping her out with food, she didn't need the coin so urgently. The tribe's granary had helped her, but they only let her take so much at once, and she only took the foods which she needed. This would have been barely enough to live on without being pregnant, but with so many babies in her, she needed more than what the tribe's largesse could provide. This was normally where she'd be supported by friends and family, but she had few brothers and none of them were willing or able to help, and her sisters also needed help to stay fed as well.

Of course, she could push herself to work in the fields and keep a bit of the food she personally harvested, but she didn't want to risk straining herself in her state. She had visited Koglan already, unofficially trading breakfast for her by giving him a little shoulder rub. It had been a while since she met her lady friends, but most of them were too busy in the fields this season anyway, and Siwa just didn't feel like going out or doing much of anything today. This must have been the morning sickness she'd heard about. It must have been really bad for her, since it was past noon already.