The Vanished Wilderness [IC | Open]

by **Palmyrion** » Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:27 pm

Theyra wrote:
The GAmeTopians wrote:Snip

Palmyrion wrote:Snip

Nakhu reached for Kaye's hand and, as Kaye's companion, introduce and offered his hand. Nakhu reached out and clasped both hands with his firmly. "I am Nakhu Olziyt, he said to the both of them and with an accent. Looking at Kaye first, then Johann. Noting that Kaye's handshake was as firm as his, unlike Johann's. Not that he is judging them for that, just an observation. "Then it is agreed, and it is nice to meet the two of you." It would not be the first time, Nakhu worked with imperial westerners before. Back when a mining company showed up near his homeland looking for minerals. It was a good exchange, and surely he can work well with these two.

As he was about to suggest heading out, Nakhu remembered that he had yet to buy anything from the store or get his basket of food. Taking a looking at Kaye's pickaxe and Johann's hammer. He got to thinking about what he should buy before heading out. Turning his head to the store and then back at the two. If anything of use to him is still left, that is. With an unsure expression on his face, "So since you got a pickaxe and you got a hammer. What should I get from the store? Do you two know what is left"?

"There has been a commotion recently over an axe being auctioned." Johann replied. "I've never seen many people buy a hammer or a pickaxe either, so I'm confident they have hammers or pickaxes still in stock. he added.

Johann was at this point thinking of getting a bushel of fresh fruit, so he offered to go with Nakhu to Ultar. "Anyways, I'm planning on getting one of those baskets of fresh fruit there, I guess I'll come with you to Ultar's? he asked.

Dawn | Getting ready to prepare for an excursion out in the Aherrad Plains

Retrieving a bushel of wild fruit

by **The GAmeTopians** » Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:17 pm

Palmyrion wrote:
Theyra wrote:

Nakhu reached for Kaye's hand and, as Kaye's companion, introduce and offered his hand. Nakhu reached out and clasped both hands with his firmly. "I am Nakhu Olziyt, he said to the both of them and with an accent. Looking at Kaye first, then Johann. Noting that Kaye's handshake was as firm as his, unlike Johann's. Not that he is judging them for that, just an observation. "Then it is agreed, and it is nice to meet the two of you." It would not be the first time, Nakhu worked with imperial westerners before. Back when a mining company showed up near his homeland looking for minerals. It was a good exchange, and surely he can work well with these two.

As he was about to suggest heading out, Nakhu remembered that he had yet to buy anything from the store or get his basket of food. Taking a looking at Kaye's pickaxe and Johann's hammer. He got to thinking about what he should buy before heading out. Turning his head to the store and then back at the two. If anything of use to him is still left, that is. With an unsure expression on his face, "So since you got a pickaxe and you got a hammer. What should I get from the store? Do you two know what is left"?

"There has been a commotion recently over an axe being auctioned." Johann replied. "I've never seen many people buy a hammer or a pickaxe either, so I'm confident they have hammers or pickaxes still in stock. he added.

Johann was at this point thinking of getting a bushel of fresh fruit, so he offered to go with Nakhu to Ultar. "Anyways, I'm planning on getting one of those baskets of fresh fruit there, I guess I'll come with you to Ultar's? he asked.

"Mm. Another pickaxe for the caves might be a boon."

Kaye followed her new compatriots into the shop, in which the population had halved in a matter of moments. At that moment, as her compatriots approached the counter, she spotted it - a lightbulb went off in her head.

"Ultar, a length of heartwood. if you please."

The stuff was expensive enough as it was on the mainland - surely seven copper knaves was a steal, and it wouldn't remain at that price for long. Best to prepare for her first tool whilst she had the coin.

by **Auphelia** » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:11 pm

Ruth Sherrington
The Dowager Countess
ft. Greta the Goat

The bidding had been fast and fierce and come to a sudden end when some foolish young knave with too many nobles came barging in, putting down six nobles for but an axe - foolishness and impertinence like she had never seen before. Though she was but more than twenty years of age, she had more sense by a matter of leagues. Still, it made the matter of a raft rather more difficult.

The Knights of Azorea wrote:"Yer kind to've added to my bid, mate - glad to see us fisherfolk making good company on t' other side of the salt too. No chance of a usual raft, but there's many ways o' travellin' downstream. Might be able to garner ourselves a bark canoe or the like - I'd say swim, but ma'am seems of a sort above such an endeavour, and goats aren't famed for floating."

Another curling bit of laughter - the annoyance of the lost axe forgotten in a moment. He'd waited a long time for the new world, and he'd no intention of spoiling it for himself. With it safe in hand, as well as his fruit, the lithe marshlander made his way across to Ruth and Pierre.

"Eager folk in these parts - sirrin' good spirit if nout else! I'll have to have a see if the bark o' trees round hereabouts is fit for a canoe. Even if not, it's only a matter of days of walking - being quite happy myself to go back and forth to save the trouble of you decent folk"

Lazarian wrote:At this final, obscene, absurd offer, Pierre snatched his remaining coppers off the desk.

"Have your god-damned axe." he snarled, before spitting at the foolhardy stranger. Six nobles for an axe. A week's wages. This fool was going to go into the new world broke for a single axe. As much as he wanted the axe for the timbers to make the raft, this wasn't worth it. He fumed, a vein in his neck throbbing visibly, an old remnant of a well-cultivated temper.

Limping back to Ruth, he shook his head.

"Ah'm afraid we'll have to find another way to make our raft. Ah saw another man take the second axe. Perhaps we can buy the necessary timbers from him."

She examined the two men, considering their offers and having a think of it, her mind again awhirl with plotting. It had been so long since she had had to use her mind in this way and she was loving it, no matter how much she thought she did not miss her old life.

"Oh dear, I don't know about that canoe business. Walking or canoe riding, it doesn't detract from our need for a raft at some point, and we may as well try and get it now. Buying the services of someone with an axe does seem wise, though. An excellent idea, Pierre. I do recall a rather large man, a very rugged fellow, who got the other axe. Perhaps we could hire him to fell trees for us. Ultar is paying two nobles for a tree at the present, and if we can beat that he will surely sell to us instead. At two nobles a tree, we'd need ten nobles, and to beat Ultar we'd likely need twelve just to start. I still have five and you two have one each left after your hoes, correct? That makes seven, which is five short. Then of course the ropes, which should come easily enough. I do know that these nearby forests have plenty of a certain kind of nut, the candleberry. When processed, their oil is quite flammable and quite valuable, though I am not certain as to the demand here. All we would need are bushels of the stuff, simple enough to collect, and of course clay to fashion pots . . ." Her mathematical instincts took over here, the same sort that had managed the finances of a wealthy county for several years. Calculations of estimated harvesting times and hours worked and extraction rates flew about in a flurry of numbers and ideas, not more than two seconds of musing before her answer. "Goodness, all told it would take around five days for eight pots of oil, but if we can sell the oil we might be able to amass a tidy sum, certainly enough to buy a raft and more besides. But again, a sale is not guaranteed. Though the oil is an excellent sealant and extremely flammable, I have no idea what sort of market demand exists here for such a product."

She paused, politely gasping for breath. She was getting ahead of herself again, but this was all so exciting. Oh, oh, where had her manners gone? She did have the most terrible habit of getting far too excitable. Yet pangs of remorse for such a lack of decorum could not compare to the thrill of a good calculation.

"Alternatively, you two could work in the mines while I get to work on making plenty of fibre, nets, and baskets for the journey. I must admit I would likely be worse than useless in the mine, more likely to be terminated than paid a wage. With you two working for the mining rate of 2.8 copper nobles a day combined, we would have twelve coppers total within two days and can afford to start hiring the large man starting today to cut down trees and deliver the timber to us. Yes, yes. If he can cut a tree with any skill we'd only have to wait five days, or ten if he is but average. If we work for the five days through and depart on the sixth, the wages would total 7 nobles for each of you. Minus the five-odd nobles extra we'd have to spend for the timber, that would leave each of you with about 4 copper nobles each for your labour and still get us a raft. That plan may work, and it is a guaranteed income stream."

What an adventure, to plot methods of time management with two complete strangers to accomplish a shared task! It was utterly thrilling to dissect the intricacies of opportunity cost. This was exactly the kind of life she had hoped for in this new world. Ah, she should have had faith. Putting blind trust in others was always a beneficial activity. She would remember that lesson, surely a good one.

Dawn: Shopping and bidding wars and conversing and plotting, oh my!

by **Saxony-Brandenburg** » Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:44 pm

Emma

"None? Absolutely none? That's a damn shame... I truly should have brought some, I don't know how I was allowed to come here without it after all..." Emma looked down in shame, but shrugged. "Well, thank you Ultar, but I suppose this is where I must depart. I've changed my mind by the way, you can keep the fruit. I'll be back tonight for the rest. I suppose its right not to wander too far, isn't it hm? I apologize for my indecisiveness." She said, leaving the fruit at his stall, but taking her two new empty ones with her.

The looks and smells of it all was otherworldly - she was so unused to the wilderness. She soon did not regret her backing off of denying a warm bed. And so, off she went through the fields and along the river just out of town, heading east perhaps half an hour before a decent spot she found beneath a large tree which looked a lot like the oak by her apartment back home. "I wonder what you are?..." She asked the great tree, patting it with her free hand. "Either way you're beautiful. I should do well to sleep under you tonight if I must. Surely you'll keep any light rain away, should fortune be unkind." She giggled, and placed down her baskets. "Well, time is of the essence to begin my task! I suppose I should take a little stroll today, see if anything of interest should pop up, hm?"

10 AM, day 1- Explore the far-vicinity of the outpost for interesting wildlife and foliage, taking samples should she encounter anything.

by **Palmyrion** » Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:49 pm

The GAmeTopians wrote:"Mm. Another pickaxe for the caves might be a boon."

Kaye followed her new compatriots into the shop, in which the population had halved in a matter of moments. At that moment, as her compatriots approached the counter, she spotted it - a lightbulb went off in her head.

"Ultar, a length of heartwood. if you please."

The stuff was expensive enough as it was on the mainland - surely seven copper knaves was a steal, and it wouldn't remain at that price for long. Best to prepare for her first tool whilst she had the coin.

Johann immediately retrieved one of the free baskets of wild fruit - he can't afford to forget his free rations, lest he end up famished in the wilderness and die. That Johann was a man of the city, born and raised in the highly urbanised Imperial capital as the son of a blacksmith, wouldn't help him in exploring the wilderness, but being the inquisitive and analytical person he was, set to prove himself a diamond in the rough, he was eager to feast on the wisdom, knowledge, and glory that The Wild Lands can offer.

Dawn, Day 1 | Preparing for an excursion out in the Aherrad Plains

Retrieving a bushel of wild fruit

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:02 am

Gregor

It was a well-rested but energetic man who emerged from the stockade early the next morning - the Rossiyan had slept well, if furtively, mind whirling with the possibilities of this new land. His brief foray yesterday into the unspoilt hinterlands had fired his imagination. There could be anything out there, literally anything. And conversations with the miners and Markus had only reinforced his thoughts on the topic.

He was not surprised to find Markus already up - the man kept a miner's schedule, and preferred to start early, saving the time after sundown for carousing and drinking, though his eyes were clear this morning. Gregor grinned, and held up the tool he had purchased last night. The other man, his pallid blonde scruff-beard at least vaguely hacked back today, softly clapped his hands in delight.

"I thought you might find the sense in my words after sleeping on it. Better the clean air and the cool stars and being your own master, is it not so?"

Markus nodded, and clasped forearms with the other southerner. "We are agreed. Our fortunes await."

The broad soldier nodded solemnly, and passed the other man the tool. "I'll catch up with you in a jiff. I've got some words too be had with Ultar, and a company man to run down. That is-" He peered through the gloom, the morning mist not yet burnt away, and swiftly picked out two stocky figures loitering not far from the docks. At least they were prompt. Markus waved goodbye and set off east, while Gregor ambled over to where one of the day-laborers and Ultar stood staring at the forest giant he had felled.

"Best get this thing moving, eh?"

After a short conversation with the shopkeeper in hushed tones, Gregor turned away and appraised the other man, who seemed strong enough. It only took them a few minutes of grunting and heaving in the mercifully cool pre-dawn air to get the massive trunk to the sawmill, and with steady hands the merchant engaged the mechanism. The loud grinding of gears as the waterwheel slotted into the band-saw was music to his ears, and carefully he began the laborious work of extracting the precious heartwood.

0400-0700 Action: Extracting Heartwood from Timber, Cutting Timber into Cut Logs

by **Auphelia** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:26 am

Ruth Sherrington
The Dowager Countess
ft. Greta the Goat

Lazarian wrote:Pierre crossed his arms as she spoke, tapping his foot idly.

“We’ll get that raft after all.” he said through a toothy grin. “Ah reckon that the second option would be bettah. A fish in the hand is worth two in the creek. Your berry oil might be worth a fortune...or worth nothin’ at all, which would strand us without a paddle. Ah’m no stranger to hard work. Ah say I’ll get to work at the mine, and you harvest grass for the nets.”

He held out the copper scythe to Ruth, looking her over carefully.

“Don’t you get any ideas about stealin’ it. Not sayin’ ah think you will, but just a warnin’. This’ll double your work, little miss. Ah’ll go negotiate with the big woodcutter in the morning. We don’t have to come right out of the gate with matchin’ Ultar’s price. There’s other things we can offa.”

Ruth was quite familiar with using a scythe from her time as a youth on her family estate and tested the heft of the instrument in her hands. Ah, this was the feeling she missed, freedom and the promise of work out in the open. She smiled softly, pleased with how the shaft felt in her hands. Copper did have a different weight to it than the iron tools her family had used on their estate, but it wasn't different enough to matter in any meaningful way. Now that they were outside of the shop, Greta came over to sniff at the scythe, licking the wood and bleating. Ruth patted her head in the spot just behind the top that Greta loved.

"Oh, how nice. This will work most marvellously. Thank you, my dear Pierre, though I do think theft will not be much worry here, even if I were inclined to such moral corruption. Now what did you have in mind to offer the woodcutter?"

She talked for a few more moments with her two new allies before heading off with Greta trundling along beside her, out beyond the Farholme palisade and into the nearby wilderness. It didn't take more than two minutes of walking before she found thickly growing patches of long grass, a plant that seemed to be everywhere, growing in any spare patch of land not taken up by forest. Greta made a happy little bleat and bounded into the grass, trampling some of it and munching away. Ruth immediately got to work in another part of the clearing, swinging her scythe and gathering up bundles of long grass, setting them aside as she went around the field for hours. It quickly became a rhythm as she listened to the sounds of nature all around her, the whishing of the scythe, Greta's happy noises, the gentle pant of her own breath in the morning air. If this was freedom, she loved it.

-- --- --

Freedom was overrated. The first few hours were relaxing, almost, monotonous working allowing her mind to wander and her eyes to take in the natural beauty all around her. But then time passed and her hands began to hurt. And her arms began to hurt. And her feet began to hurt. Everything hurt. This had been a terrible idea and she was a fool. Why would she have left her comfortable home to come to this godforsaken hellhole? She hated those stupid birds in their trees and the stupid sun that was coming down and the stupid wind that kept blowing a stray strand of hair into her eyes and everything was stupid and she hated, hated hated it! This was misery and she wouldn't stand for it!

-- --- --

After eight hours of harvesting, she ended up with 16 large piles of long grass, a bushel each by her estimations. Trudging over to where her first piles had been, she flopped herself down on the ground and began to weave a basket. The sun had dried the strands just enough to stiffen the grass without making it rigid, perfect to weave a basket out of. Her nimble fingers worked quickly, weaving a simple pattern. As time passed and her feet stopped screaming from standing up for eight straight hours, she found her optimism returning. Greta rested herself down beside her, occasionally nibbling on the end of a strand of grass but stopping every time she was shooed back, until trying again a few minutes later. For several hours she sat and rested this way until she had eight baskets and still plenty of grass left. She knew she needed to make a net, so she quickly began to strip the remaining grass into fibre with ease, ending up with 3 lengths of fibre. Tossing the fibre into a basket, she began the process of dragging the baskets back to Farholme, a short distance but an awkward one as she made two trips with four baskets each, awkwardly laden with the unwieldy bunch. Nevertheless, it was soon that she was back in Farholme. A quick check in at the guild saw her set up with her room, a small little thing where she stashed her baskets. Taking her fibre with her, she went to eat her dinner (a disappointing sort of slop, she could only assume it to be) and began working on her nets, weaving fibre into the right shape. She talked a bit with a few people and eventually decided to sleep for the night, taking her almost complete net back into her room and hitting the terrible mattress with supernatural speed.

Her first day was done and so was she.

Dawn: Shopping and bidding wars and conversing and plotting, oh my!
8 Hours: Gathering 16 Long Grass
4 Hours: Weaving 8 Baskets from 4 Long Grass
0 Hours: Converting 12 Long Grass into 3 Fibre
4 Hours: Making 2/3 of a Fishing Net
8 Hours: Sleeping!

by **The GAmeTopians** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:32 am

Saxony-Brandenburg wrote:
Emma

"None? Absolutely none? That's a damn shame... I truly should have brought some, I don't know how I was allowed to come here without it after all..." Emma looked down in shame, but shrugged. "Well, thank you Ultar, but I suppose this is where I must depart. I've changed my mind by the way, you can keep the fruit. I'll be back tonight for the rest. I suppose its right not to wander too far, isn't it hm? I apologize for my indecisiveness." She said, leaving the fruit at his stall, but taking her two new empty ones with her.

The looks and smells of it all was otherworldly - she was so unused to the wilderness. She soon did not regret her backing off of denying a warm bed. And so, off she went through the fields and along the river just out of town, heading east perhaps half an hour before a decent spot she found beneath a large tree which looked a lot like the oak by her apartment back home. "I wonder what you are?..." She asked the great tree, patting it with her free hand. "Either way you're beautiful. I should do well to sleep under you tonight if I must. Surely you'll keep any light rain away, should fortune be unkind." She giggled, and placed down her baskets. "Well, time is of the essence to begin my task! I suppose I should take a little stroll today, see if anything of interest should pop up, hm?"

10 AM, day 1- Explore the far-vicinity of the outpost for interesting wildlife and foliage, taking samples should she encounter anything.

Emma might not have known what she was expecting, but at least in the vicinity of the town things looked quite similar to back home - grass was grass, after all, and an oak tree was an oak tree. Her experience in the Empire meant that she was quite familiar with what she was currently seeing, but no knew insights or specimens were evident.

All purchases go through elsewhere.

by **Lazarian** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:33 am

Auphelia wrote:She examined the two men, considering their offers and having a think of it, her mind again awhirl with plotting. It had been so long since she had had to use her mind in this way and she was loving it, no matter how much she thought she did not miss her old life.

"Oh dear, I don't know about that canoe business. Walking or canoe riding, it doesn't detract from our need for a raft at some point, and we may as well try and get it now. Buying the services of someone with an axe does seem wise, though. An excellent idea, Pierre. I do recall a rather large man, a very rugged fellow, who got the other axe. Perhaps we could hire him to fell trees for us. Ultar is paying two nobles for a tree at the present, and if we can beat that he will surely sell to us instead. At two nobles a tree, we'd need ten nobles, and to beat Ultar we'd likely need twelve just to start. I still have five and you two have one each left after your hoes, correct? That makes seven, which is five short. Then of course the ropes, which should come easily enough. I do know that these nearby forests have plenty of a certain kind of nut, the candleberry. When processed, their oil is quite flammable and quite valuable, though I am not certain as to the demand here. All we would need are bushels of the stuff, simple enough to collect, and of course clay to fashion pots . . ." Her mathematical instincts took over here, the same sort that had managed the finances of a wealthy county for several years. Calculations of estimated harvesting times and hours worked and extraction rates flew about in a flurry of numbers and ideas, not more than two seconds of musing before her answer. "Goodness, all told it would take around five days for eight pots of oil, but if we can sell the oil we might be able to amass a tidy sum, certainly enough to buy a raft and more besides. But again, a sale is not guaranteed. Though the oil is an excellent sealant and extremely flammable, I have no idea what sort of market demand exists here for such a product."

She paused, politely gasping for breath. She was getting ahead of herself again, but this was all so exciting. Oh, oh, where had her manners gone? She did have the most terrible habit of getting far too excitable. Yet pangs of remorse for such a lack of decorum could not compare to the thrill of a good calculation.

"Alternatively, you two could work in the mines while I get to work on making plenty of fibre, nets, and baskets for the journey. I must admit I would likely be worse than useless in the mine, more likely to be terminated than paid a wage. With you two working for the mining rate of 2.8 copper nobles a day combined, we would have twelve coppers total within two days and can afford to start hiring the large man starting today to cut down trees and deliver the timber to us. Yes, yes. If he can cut a tree with any skill we'd only have to wait five days, or ten if he is but average. If we work for the five days through and depart on the sixth, the wages would total 7 nobles for each of you. Minus the five-odd nobles extra we'd have to spend for the timber, that would leave each of you with about 4 copper nobles each for your labour and still get us a raft. That plan may work, and it is a guaranteed income stream."

Pierre crossed his arms as she spoke, tapping his foot idly.

“We’ll get that raft after all.” he said through a toothy grin. The little lady would be quite useful to keep around. Strength in numbers was one of the first things learned in the Imperial Navy - always better to simply outman the enemy rather than to have to rely on exceptional skill or luck. And Lady Luck, or Fortune, had blessed him with new crew mates.

“Ah reckon that the second option would be bettah. A fish in the hand is worth two in the creek. Your berry oil might be worth a fortune...or worth nothin’ at all, which would strand us without a paddle. Ah’m no stranger to hard work. Ah say I’ll get to work at the mine, and you harvest grass for the nets.”

He held out the copper scythe to Ruth, looking her over carefully.

“Don’t you get any ideas about stealin’ it. Not sayin’ ah think you will, but just a warnin’. This’ll double your work, little miss. Ah’ll go negotiate with the big woodcutter in the morning. We don’t have to come right out of the gate with matchin’ Ultar’s price. There’s other things we can offa.”

by **The GAmeTopians** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:43 am

Palmyrion wrote:Preparing for an excursion out in the Aherrad Plains

Kaye Skylar Oliver

As the men of the group grabbed their rations for the long journey ahead, Kaye rearranged her few items in preparation. She pegged the total travel time at three days on foot, though she would no doubt be prospecting for profitable deposits along the way. Perhaps her two companions would be helpful in that, perhaps not - either way, the hope was that something interesting would come up.

Dawn-16th Hour: Traveling to Aherrad Plains (16/36), [Prospecting (Passive) - Current Location Three Rivers]
16th Hour-Next Dawn: Sleep

by **Theyra** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:29 am

Palmyrion wrote:
Theyra wrote:
Nakhu reached for Kaye's hand and, as Kaye's companion, introduce and offered his hand. Nakhu reached out and clasped both hands with his firmly. "I am Nakhu Olziyt, he said to the both of them and with an accent. Looking at Kaye first, then Johann. Noting that Kaye's handshake was as firm as his, unlike Johann's. Not that he is judging them for that, just an observation. "Then it is agreed, and it is nice to meet the two of you." It would not be the first time, Nakhu worked with imperial westerners before. Back when a mining company showed up near his homeland looking for minerals. It was a good exchange, and surely he can work well with these two.

As he was about to suggest heading out, Nakhu remembered that he had yet to buy anything from the store or get his basket of food. Taking a looking at Kaye's pickaxe and Johann's hammer. He got to thinking about what he should buy before heading out. Turning his head to the store and then back at the two. If anything of use to him is still left, that is. With an unsure expression on his face, "So since you got a pickaxe and you got a hammer. What should I get from the store? Do you two know what is left"?

"There has been a commotion recently over an axe being auctioned." Johann replied. "I've never seen many people buy a hammer or a pickaxe either, so I'm confident they have hammers or pickaxes still in stock. he added.

Johann was at this point thinking of getting a bushel of fresh fruit, so he offered to go with Nakhu to Ultar. "Anyways, I'm planning on getting one of those baskets of fresh fruit there, I guess I'll come with you to Ultar's? he asked.

The GAmeTopians wrote:
Palmyrion wrote:
"There has been a commotion recently over an axe being auctioned." Johann replied. "I've never seen many people buy a hammer or a pickaxe either, so I'm confident they have hammers or pickaxes still in stock. he added.

Johann was at this point thinking of getting a bushel of fresh fruit, so he offered to go with Nakhu to Ultar. "Anyways, I'm planning on getting one of those baskets of fresh fruit there, I guess I'll come with you to Ultar's? he asked.

"Mm. Another pickaxe for the caves might be a boon."

Kaye followed her new compatriots into the shop, in which the population had halved in a matter of moments. At that moment, as her compatriots approached the counter, she spotted it - a lightbulb went off in her head.

"Ultar, a length of heartwood. if you please."

The stuff was expensive enough as it was on the mainland - surely seven copper knaves was a steal, and it wouldn't remain at that price for long. Best to prepare for her first tool whilst she had the coin.

"Okay, that sounds like a plan", Nakhu said and he went to purchase a pickaxe from "Ultar. After that also getting his free basket of fruit. Then he saw that both Kaye and Johann were starting to head out and so Nakhu hurried to join them in their trek to the Aherrad Plains.

Dawn Day 1 - Traveling to the Aherrad Plains, (16/36), Prospector passive-active - Location Three Rivers
Next Dawn: Sleep

by **Lazarian** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:33 am

Auphelia wrote:"Oh, how nice. This will work most marvellously. Thank you, my dear Pierre, though I do think theft will not be much worry here, even if I were inclined to such moral corruption. Now what did you have in mind to offer the woodcutter?"

Pierre shrugged.

“Ah reckon he may value traps and baskets and nets more than straight coin. Time is money, and we’ll be better at producing those things than him. Ah presume that with a little negotiatin’, we’ll find somethin’ manageable for the both of us.”

He scratched his head, for a moment, pausing.

“Anyways, you oughtta get to it. Can’t sit around scratchin’ our britches all day. Ah’ll be off to some honest labor.” he finished, taking his leave.

The time in the mine was harsh, unrewarding, and sweaty. As most mining was. It was nothing to write home about, and nothing he hadn’t done before. Easy to lose time and absentmindedly dig away. And so he did.

Status: Asleep

by **The Knights of Azorea** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:18 am

Mercer nodded along with Ruth's plan - she seemed to have head on her shoulders and Pierre seemed set on keeping them fed - least he could do was a bit of honest graft to see them all on their way to a bit of profit. Part share of a raft was a valuable thing to have to one's name, after all, and he had no shortage of time.

"Aye ma'am, seems a sirrin' plan by me. I'll see about a bit o' mine-work - be nice to see all that silver gleaming like faerie's wings. I'll pitch in to get the raft funded n'all."

He took a last gulp of fresh salt wind off the distant sea.

"Righto, then - into the pit with me too along'er you, Pierre. Reckon I'll sleep under the stars though, myself."

by **The GAmeTopians** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:48 pm

The night passes in silence, only the soft fires of Farholme keeping away the dark. Soon enough, the sun begins to cross the horizon - a new day dawns.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Fri Apr 30, 2021 7:59 am

Gregor
A collaboration with Lazarian

It was only shortly after dawn when Gregor ran into one of the other migrants - a ruggedly built fellow, with a conspicuously broken nose that had healed somewhat poorly. He bore multiple scars, but didn’t have too untrustworthy of a face, which was a point in his favor. He nodded to the man in a noncommittal manner, concentrating on his own affairs and stepping around the man unthinkingly, when suddenly the other person spoke.

“Good morning!” Pierre said cheerfully, his face brightening. “I’ve been lookin’ for you. The other lucky bastard who got the first axe before the biddin’ war.”

He paused, realizing this was probably not the best introduction.

“It’s Pierre. Good to meet you. Ah and a few others are reckonin’ to make our way down the rivah, but the other axe ended up being bid all the way up to a week’s wages. Foolishness if you’d ask me. But you can’t drag a goat down river with a canoe and you can’t build a raft without timber, so I reckon we’ll be in need of your services. Heard from Ultar you brought down a heartwood in a single day, so ah’m assuming you’re a lumberjack by trade. Or used to be, anyways.”

He looked the lumberjack over. A sturdy man, carried himself well, quite tall. Perhaps an ex-soldier or scout or surveyor of some sort - just had a sort of enterprising look about him.

“Can’t promise ah can match Ultar’s price, but Ruth, my...partner,” he said, trying to find the right word, “used to be a botanical gardener, apparently. We’re hopin’ to find some Blue. And that’s worth it’s weight in gold. Ah reckon you’d find it a fine investment.”

Gregor rubbed the back of his neck with one leathery hand, blinking slowly. A business proposition, a request for capital, and an introduction all in one, barely a breath taken. It was too early for such deep thinking, but he cudgeled his mind towards activity. The merchant had been preparing his thoughts for the slow rhythm of timber and saw, and now he had to figure on economics and trade.

“Pierre. Good name. Timber, eh? Yeah, I’ve done some time with an axe, for one reason or another.” Heh, yes. Or another.

“A raft. Harrum. You’d be figuring, what, five, seven good trees to lash together, if you’re dragging two people and a goat down the river. I’m handy with a blade, but the timber here is old and hard - it don’t come down quick, no matter how many tricks you know. Any sort of timeframe you’d be looking for this raft within, a vague figuring?”

Pierre crossed his arms, tapping his foot idly for a few moments, thinking it over a bit.

“I’d reckon we’d like to leave by the end of the week, once the Guild stops paying our food and lodging. But we can leave a little later. Sooner rather than later, though. First man to find a land in the new world keeps it, or so I’ve heard. Assumin’ they can hold onto it by coin or by force. Those patches of blue I reckon will be gone pretty soon. So...I’d say a week or a little more seems fair.” he said, drawling on for a while as the Bayou folk tended to do.

Gregor nodded. “A week. Well, you’re six days out from the end of the Guild stipend. I’ve got orders from Ultar for two trees, under contract, and those including right of first refusal - so I couldn’t start until, eh, Mannsday, at best. Five trees though, or seven? A week I can just manage for the five, since on a good day I might’ve pulled down a trunk before sundown, but seven would be pushing it. Still, doesn’t seem impossible.”

He mused for a few more moments, idly fingering his belt-knife in thought.

“I do have some other things that are priorities, of course. I could set those aside, but it’d cost you, and I don’t think you want to pay what I would ask - unless y’all came particularly well-heeled compared to me. Let’s say without paying for a rush job, I could have you five trunks in eight days, or seven in ten. Good enough for your purposes?”

“Five should be plenty. Ah reckon that it should be enough, though we’ll see about that once we try to float it down river. Worst comes to worst, we pay a little more and leave a little later. Although...there are three of us on this venture. We could pay decently, though ah’d need you to name a price.”

He rubbed his chin, thinking about how to sweeten the pot.

“Ever made a fishin’ trap? Hard and time-consumin’ work. But well worth your while. I wouldn’t recommend tryin to subsist on fruit alone. And ah’ve got a bit of a knack for weavin and cuttin, so ah’ll throw one of those to sweeten the stew of the deal.”

A fish trap. Gregor had seen the nomads of Khazar tribelands use those in their little arctic streams, when they went hunting for the armor-backs for the sweet roe their Khan-lords valued. He’d never even so much as tried his hand at such a process, but it wasn’t a half bad plan. Fruit was one thing, and wasn’t hard to come by, if his first foray through the forest had been an indicator, but sweetwater fish would be a welcome complement, to be sure.

“A fishing trap, aye. Lots of weaving in that, and you’re not wrong, ‘twould be worthwhile to have in my belt. Fair trade, fair trade. So, let’s see. Ultar is contracting me for two nobles, two knaves for a trunk. Normally I’d say that would set y’all back, eh, eleven nobles. I reckon you don’t want to spend that much though, nor would I in your shoes. Everything out here seems to come awful dear, which is fair enough, but not something my belt-pouch reckoned on when I decided to take ship, nor, I would reckon, yours. Or those of your compatriots.

“How does eight nobles, five knaves sound to ye, if you throw in the fish trap? I could probably make it myself for cheaper, grass being easy to come by for fiber, but I ain’t about to risk botching the whole process and wasting time and energy if you know the way of it. Reckon that’s a fair bargain, two days wages for yer net.”

“Truth be told, I’d give it to you cheaper, but I have ambitions towards building a raft myself - given this whole country seems to be serviced by rivers, if the maps are correct - and by helping you folks ahead of my own desires I’d be remiss not to be compensated for those days of setting back my own plans, you ken.”

Pierre scratched his head.

“Yeah, ah ken. Ruth’s the one that does all the plottin’ and thinkin’, but I reckon we can scrounge up eight nobles and five knaves. If the lady has a problem with it, ah figure she’ll come up with some solution or other. Where ah you plannin’ on headin’, with that raft of your own? Ah can throw in the fiber for your raft to chip down a few knaves, if you’d care for that.”

Gregor shrugged a broad Gallic shrug, an affectation which he had picked up from many comrades over the years.

“Can’t rightly say. Figure I’ll stay close, see what crops up. I’m a trader and traveler by nature, and business is where people are - and Farholme, at least for now, is where all the people are indeed. Saw a party of folks headed west, heard them muttering about iron. If you hauled iron ore from way across the Lake, to Farholme here, I bet I could turn a pretty profit. But I’ll go where the wind takes me.”

The fiber was a more interesting offer, and he deliberately paused, considering the implications. He and Markus had already planned on pulling that together themselves, since it wasn’t a hard process.

“As for the fiber, that’s generous, but I reckon I’ll have to turn you down. Coin being harder to come by than grass, and my own sweat the cheapest currency of all, I’d rather have a half day’s wages in my pocket than save a few hours of braiding bits of foliage together. If it works for you, one of you planning on staying near town? Timber not far from here looks mighty fine, so if you wanted you could mark trees you wanted me to fell, to ensure we have a meeting of the minds when it comes to quality.”

Another shrug.

“Or not. I know woods, and I don’t dislike you enough yet to stiff you on that.” A broad grin, as if sharing a joke of how few people Gregor actually disliked. “Not sure if anyone in your little posse has an eye for timber, but some do, and I wouldn’t judge a man who wanted to choose what he were paying for, as it were.”

Pierre rubbed his chin. An old habit.

“Ah appreciate an honest man. Glad to hear you won’t just cut us a raft out of mesquite.” he said, going along with Gregor’s jibe. “Ah’ll discuss with the others with the others, but ah think you’ll do us right. We’ve got to stick together in this new world, because Lord knows the Empire isn’t watching over us anymore.”

He frowned slightly, unpleasant memories resurfacing. The regiment that had come to the Bayous all those years ago, looking for fresh meat to throw into the grinder, had promised that the Empire was bringing prosperity to the poor and civilization to the uncivilized. The actual campaigns he’d had the misfortune of being on...had been a much different story. Scurvy, blood, and fire. That’s what the Empire brought to the smaller provinces around them, in Pierre’s eyes.

“But maybe that’s for the best.” he said with a shrug. “Regardless, the wilds are a dangerous place. Fish swim in schools and sheep graze in flocks. Ah reckon we should do the same. And this deal,” he continued, looping back off the tangent, “could be a good start.” he finished, grinning with his jagged teeth.

And here Gregor was just thinking about the fundamental issue of stiffing a client when you only had a half dozen people who might buy from you. Scams only worked if there were new oceans of fish to take the bait every day. Honest craftsmanship and reliable industry were far more profitable anywhere where your word carried weight. And House Rorik’s motto was, after all, “my word is my bond”.

“Sounds fair to me.” The tall man stuck out his hand, noting in passing with regret that that might not have been the best plan. He always shook on deals, but letting people appraise just exactly what sort of calluses he has wasn’t the wisest all the time. A swordsman’s rough hands felt different than a lumberjack’s, and he was trying to be one thing now, not another. Still, it was what it was.

As they shook he nodded again, almost to himself. “And just find me in the barracks if you’re looking to take me up on that offer of appraising the timber. I won’t take it poorly if you decide to change your mind, you not knowing me and all. No offense to be taken there.”

The two men separated, Gregor now bearing a busy schedule in his head that he hadn’t expected. This was shaping up to be an interesting week.

by **Lazarian** » Fri Apr 30, 2021 3:22 pm

Pierre

"Good morning, little miss." Pierre said with a grin, meeting Ruth outside the stockade shortly after his meeting with Gregor. "Even though we ain't got an axe, we've got somethin' just as fine. We got ourselves a deal. Eight nobles, five knaves, and a fish trap for five logs. The woodcutter'll have those procured by week's end, give or take, assuming that amount of money is somethin' we can reasonably produce by then. Ah'll let you figure out the thinkin'." he said with a wink, clearly pleased with himself at orchestrating the deal.

With a sigh, he turned towards the mine, looking off in the direction of the pits.

"Reckon ah'll spend the day minin' again, unless you happen to have somethin' else in mind. Feel free to borrow the scythe again."

Every campaign needed its supply trains and strategies, every building needed its foundation, and every plan needed the first few steps. While mining wasn't exciting, if it was what he had to do to secure a livelihood downstream - so be it.

A few idle thoughts breezed through his mind as he worked. Gregor's handshake had felt...oddly familiar. There was something about it that reminded him of his time in the service, before things had gone to shit, back when...ah, it was probably just a coincidence. The Past still had its claws sunk into him, however faintly. Best not to ascribe too much meaning to a simple handshake of a callused hand.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Fri Apr 30, 2021 4:43 pm

Gregor

He gingerly placed the sturdy staff of stunningly red wood on Ultar's desk, and the dour Company man grunted. Perhaps appreciatively. Perhaps grunting was just how he communicated this early in the morning, after being up late. Regardless, his eyes looked up and down the stave with something like appreciation, and that was all Gregor could really hope for.

"Delivered, as promised. A fair beauty, if you want my artisan's opinion."

And it was. He had never worked much with the crimson timber out of the New Lands back in the Empire - after all, it was prohibitively expensive, even if you had some skill. Only mastercrafters ever really dealt with it, and it went into sword-canes and staffs of office, not the more mundane applications the Rossiyan man was familiar with. Still, you could tell, just if you had the touch, that it was something special. Tough as you could like, and light without being unbalanced. His axe felt like a clumsy cumbersome thing in comparison - which, to be fair, it was. Obviously the Company hadn't broken the bank on bids for cheap soft copper tools for their hired serfs.

Really he would prefer to keep it. The sturdy five and a half foot length would make a good walking stick. But a walking stick was paltry compared to a day's wage, especially when he had other needs. Ultar mumbled something that might have been agreement with his assessment, glanced at the stack of logs after sticking his head out the door, and plonked four shiny copper coins of various weights on the counter of the cramped shop.

Seeing the man was not overly inclined to communication, Gregor made an ostentatious show of sweeping only two of those coins off of the counter, then picking up one of the hammers on his way out. The shopkeep might have harrumphed under his breath, but he made no move to get up from his stool. A more motivated merchant might have raised his prices already, but Ultar had shown no such initiative, at least not yet. A Company man apparently through and through, he probably was still waiting on a directive to allow him that level of discretion, and everything Gregor knew about the Company said such a directive would be long in coming.

"Oh, and Ultar? I'd like you to hold me four picks and two hammers from the next shipment, if you'd be so kind."

That almost certainly got a comment. Gregor didn't hear it though, because he was already on his way to the eastern gates of Farholme, humming a rather melancholy Eiran tune. The Highlanders had a history of singing it as a funeral dirge, but it said far too much of pretty moors and sunlit fields to really hold a man's spirits down, and for some reason it fit the bucolic countryside unfolded before Gregor's eyes as he hiked east, the sun only beginning to burn away the morning river mists.

Right on schedule.

Action: 0700-0800: Traveling east
Action: Purchase Copper Hammer [-2 Nobles]

by **Ralnis** » Sat May 01, 2021 3:26 am

Alfred "Ruddy" Rednbocker
Day 2

The sound of the stockade moving about with workers and the new crew. He needed to get since he needed to finish the spear if he wanted to try and hunt for some good profit. He didn't mind working in the silver mines but he was not a miner. He served in the Imperial Army and explored under His Imperial Majesty's name. He needed to be out in the wilderness and try his hand to bring his own food outside and make his own profits. He can't just be working for the company forever until he died here.

The last thing he needed was to find vines to turn into fiber to bind the flint and the branch together. It would take nearly most of the day but he can still get some hunting in.

[spoiler=Actions n' Stuff]
Finds leafs to turn to fiber
Makes fiber
Constructs Primitive Spear
Uses Primitive Spear to go hunting rabbits for rest of the day
[/spoiler]

by **The Knockout Gun Gals** » Sat May 01, 2021 6:09 am

Serena Altevia

Another morning, another day, perhaps another happiness. Perhaps she should try to make some friends while she's here, it won't hurt her after all. But beside that, she'll have to make a living for awhile. There's a freshwater/saltwater river close, there's also animals to be hunted around. Time to hunt down the flints to make the spear. After a breakfast of stockade's basic food, she made her journey to find these flints and other stuffs.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Sat May 01, 2021 8:14 am

Gregor

"I should have done this months ago."

Markus' commiseration was between grunts, and Gregor didn't blame him. The man had been glad to see his co-conspirator, probably betraying a lack of faith in anyone else in this wild country. If someone had told the pioneer to walk off an hour away from civilization to meet up later, you probably had to have niggling doubts either which way. But luckily for the young man, the Rossiyan needed him.

They had both stripped to the waist, and intermittently took dips in the nearby stream to prevent overheating. Gregor's shirt was wound about his brow, a feeble but at least partially effective attempt to keep the dust and sweat out of his eyes as he wielded the hammer. With each blow some of the heavy rock and stone crumbled under his assault, not an entirely necessary part of the process, but they were, after all, only two men. Better to carry home what was worthwhile than what was, well, worth less.

It was Markus who had given him the idea, and for that he fervently thanked the young man in his heart. Nobody had announced it in so many words, but the rumors had turned out to be true - someone had stumbled upon a silver vein, not even all that serious of a walk from Farholme, and a wise man could find his fortune there. The Company kept their miners destitute, and most didn't have the funds or ambitions to make a go of things. But Gregor's conversation with Ultar had betrayed a studied indifference on the issue, only too happy to make profit wherever profit could be found. And if that meant writing up a few extra ingots of output from the mine, that was fine by him.

Which, as it happened, was just fine for Gregor and Markus - the partners of the Nevis Trading Company - too.

It was just after noon when they returned to Farholme with the morning's take, two starns of pure silver ore and one starn of raw silver. There were a few quizzical glances from those who were loitering about the settlement, but most people were either in the mines or already in the field seeking their fortunes. Gregor set the baskets of heavy broken ore down inside Ultar's shop, smiling wearily at the man.

"Afternoon, Ultar. Got some goods for you to inspect."

by **Auphelia** » Sat May 01, 2021 12:09 pm

Ruth Sherrington
The Dowager Countess
ft. Greta the Goat

-- --- --

The Second Day

Lazarian wrote:"Good morning, little miss." Pierre said with a grin, meeting Ruth outside the stockade shortly after his meeting with Gregor. "Even though we ain't got an axe, we've got somethin' just as fine. We got ourselves a deal. Eight nobles, five knaves, and a fish trap for five logs. The woodcutter'll have those procured by week's end, give or take, assuming that amount of money is somethin' we can reasonably produce by then. Ah'll let you figure out the thinkin'." he said with a wink, clearly pleased with himself at orchestrating the deal.

"Reckon ah'll spend the day minin' again, unless you happen to have somethin' else in mind. Feel free to borrow the scythe again."

"Ah, thank you very much. You've done well to negotiate, and it seems to be a fair enough price," she said. "You'll need to keep working, of course, but I'm nearly done with the first net. Just two days more and I should have our fishing trap ready for the trade. Best of luck in the mines, and do be careful." She took the scythe, her hands wrapping around the handle again. "See you soon."

-- --- --

And so she would. It was another day of harvesting, her feet still sore from standing so long yesterday, and yet something about knowing to expect the pain made it more bearable. Sometimes adventure could also be monotony, she thought, watching Greta prancing around the field like the silly thing she was. Everything was much the same and the patches of long grass were everywhere for the taking. Before she knew it twelve hours had passed and she was staring at over twenty large piles of long grass. Deciding against bringing them all with her, she stripped them down for fibre, ending up with six strands that she tossed across her shoulder, walking back into Farholme with her work. That would be good for two more nets, just enough to make a fishing trap for the woodsman who would cut their raft. She'd need to weave them together and find the rest of the materials, but she would certainly be done by the next day, then able to work on their own fishing traps and the necessary fibres for the raft. Then they would get down river and their adventure could truly begin! Yes, confidence and hope. That was the ticket.

As she was coming into the town, Pierre was also headed in from his day in the mines. They stopped to talk for a short while and she gave him the scythe, watching him march right back out to go and gather more long grass. She made her way to her room, sitting on the new and somehow rickety bed. She set aside her fibres with the baskets and went to work for another few hours. She knotted and wove and twisted until finally the first net was finished, and just in time for dinner.

-- --- --

She took some of the fibre with her, nimble fingers flying over the fibre as she went to work on the second net during her meal. Over the firelight a man caught her eye. A Warden, the one standing (or more often leaning) against the gate as she left and came back in every day. He wasn't a handsome man by most standards but his face was interesting, a nose and eyes and a mouth . . . all staring at her. Her face grew hot, surely from proximity to the fire, and she looked down to calm herself. A few minutes later she gathered up the partial net and took herself back to the room.

Not a minute later did a knock come through the wooden door, a deep and smooth voice coming in. She opened the door. The Warden. He propositioned her. She demurred, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. That sort of thing was not what a lady did, no matter how long it had been since she had had a husband, the old man. He had been kind but worn by age, not like the stable boy from - ah, no. Ladies did not do such things, much less think of them. But the Warden asked again, and she wasn't certain. So long, so long, and she was so - she could not describe the feeling, that base pulsing within her. And why did she deny this for herself? Because of what? Why should she be denied her own pleasure to please the rules of some far off Empire. She was her own woman and she was desirable, no? This man clearly wanted her and she wanted him, so why not desire each other for a few hours? She was about to agree when the copper flashed in his hand, a final offer. Nearly a day's work, and for what? This?

-- --- --

She tucked the copper safely with her others as the Warden saw himself out, darting into the shadows of the night. She hadn't realised just how much she had needed this until it had happened, and to be paid for it beside. Perhaps she should have been scandalised, appalled that she had made a whore of herself. But she felt nothing but a sort of excitement. She would have been shamed all over the Empire if she had ever taken a man into her bed again after the death of her husband, but what kind of a life would that have been? She was young and beautiful and deserved these things, all sorts of wonderful excitement and variety and life! She deserved to live. This was an adventure, to be sure. Making her own money, doing what she wanted. Maybe it was hard and dull and at times awful, but after just two days in this new land she felt freer than she had in years.

12 Hours: Gathering 24 Long Grass, stripping them for 6 fibre
3 Hours: Weaving fishing nets
1 Hours: Being fulfilled
8 Hours: Sleeping!

by **Palmyrion** » Sat May 01, 2021 9:16 pm

DAWN OF
THE SECOND DAY
DAY 2 | JOHANN SCHMIDT | AHERRAD PLAINS

It had been a 16-hour long trip across the Aherrad Plains, with Nakhu and Kaye prospecting along the journey for deposits of iron. The closest Johann came to ever dealing with iron was iron ingots being shaped into various tools and weapons - hoes, pickaxes, axes, swords, daggers, spears, scythes. Johann was more of a city boy than someone who regularly trekked outdoors, only travelling occasionally to sell wares in other towns, and even then only traveling on well-established roads and not dedicating one's self to exploring the outback.

Along the 16-hour trek, though, he gathered whatever he could find along the trail that was of any particular use - branches, stones, bones, anything he thought could be of any particular use. Once they could find a useful iron deposit in the Aherrad Plains, Johann thought of what to do next.

Mining an iron deposit in the Aherrad Plains would require some form of residence, no matter how permanent, just a stone's throw away from the deposit; one can start with a simple tent or a lean-to, one per person, with the humble but promising settlement sustained at first by tubers. Johann, with no knowledge of mining whatsoever but knowledge in iron working and ore smelting, can, for their first few hours in the Aherrad Plains, scour the Plains for tubers they can reasonably grow; the task would take 12 hours, leaving him perhaps with four hours at most to crush the ore that Nakhu and Kaye would gather in any nearby iron deposit, with eating not taking no more than ten minutes of rushed eating.

Well-rested and rejuvenated, but feeling a little hungry from the trip, Johann took time to eat whatever he could call a "breakfast" with the humble basket of fruits that he obtained, which contained, if one were to reasonably ration it, one week's worth of fruits.

Day 1

0000H - 1600H: Travelling to Aherrad Plains (16/36) - Current Location: Three Rivers
1600H - Next Dawn: Sleep

Day 2

0000H-1600H: Travelling to Aherrad Plains (32/36)
1600H - Next Dawn: Sleep

by **Theyra** » Sat May 01, 2021 9:57 pm

Day 2
Nakhu Olziyt

They have been making good pace towards the Plains. Sure it has been a long 16-hour trek with Kaye and Johann. But, it will be worth it once they reach the Plains. Though Nakhu has never mined before and is used to farming and hunting. He does have a good eye when it comes to finding mineral deposits and surely it will not take too long in finding an iron deposit. Definitely with the help of Kaye and Johann. Nice to have some company in this new world, he thought he would have to do this himself. That certainly would have made things harder for himself and now he got two other to help him. Just need to get the iron out of the ground and find a source of food. Then Nakhu can start to start to building a home for himself in the Plains. But, first he must get there and with a snack of fruit out of the fruit basket. He continued his trek with Kaye and Johann.

Dawn Day 2 - Traveling to the Aherrad Plains, (32/36), Prospector passive-active
Next Dawn: Sleep

by **Pragia** » Sun May 02, 2021 10:16 am

Cyrus would spend a night in the explorer's guild bunkhouses, even as many would begin to leave. He was jealous of them, obviously they were reaching out for adventure before he could, but he still desired basic tools to work toward before setting out. The second day for him would be painfully boring for most, as he needed to find flint suitable for arrowheads. The next couple of days would be unfortunate in that this grueling work would take great time for minimal progress, but at least there was some chance of happening upon something in the fields around town. His black hair would matt down in sweat as he ventures under the sun, his bronze skin thankfully resistant to burning as he searches the fields, using a branch as a walking stick to support his carried load.

Actions:
Find 5 Flint (12/12)
Find 5 Flint (4/12)

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Mon May 03, 2021 1:20 pm

Gregor

It took a fair bit of haggling, but after a chat with the shopkeeper and a few growled minutes of conversation Gregor left the shop, his baskets empty and his pockets heavier with coin.

Well, not much heavier. That shopkeeper could argue like a devil. But heavier is as heavier does, even if he immediately converted the ore into more tools. You had to get these startups off the ground, and there was only one good way to do that - investing. Markus seemed very happy with his take, and was munching away on a good piece of a red apple as the two men discussed their next moves.

There was work still to be done around here, unfortunately. Gregor had a contract - actually two contracts - that needed filling. But they could wait, at least for a bit. They pooled their resources, bought another hammer, and set off east once more. You didn't get rich except for by the sweat of your brow these days. By the time they headed to bed that evening the Nevis Trading Company had hauled in another load of silver, and their belt-pouches were feeling much heavier.

Gregor didn't enjoy the feel of the pickaxe in his hands. Not the same weight or motion as an axe, or other implements. But that was a question for tomorrow. Markus had spent big before turning in, passing around some drinks for his friends, and some of the newcomers who were drawn to his good mood like moths to the flame. With any luck his plan would bear fruit tomorrow, just as it had today.

Silver Ore sold (+7 Nobles, 2 Knaves)
Copper Hammer, Copper Pickaxe, Fruit Basket bought (-6 Nobles, 5 Knaves)

The Vanished Wilderness [IC | Open]

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