In the third week of Trundset...Hearth haggles with the Shellbacks, always trying to decipher their strange colloquialisms and accent. It is tiring and, sometimes, frustrating work. However, an agreement is made between the disparate groups to exchange some of their harvest for lost knowledge. The Shellbacks had traveled to many tribes and had picked up how to quickly grow many of the crops that dot the lands of Mi'zek. The Shellbacks explain this knowledge to Hearth throughout the week, displaying many ways to tame the wild plants that grew in the area. They showed how to create stone pots of water to hold the sweet-muck, how to create fencing that would attract the flesh fruit, and ways to create simple stone tubes to line with the funnel-frost. The new planting system is rudimentary, but it will be a far more reliable source of food than what was available previously. The Shellbacks even help with setting up the materials around the alcove in a gesture of friendship and goodwill.
Hearth trades six weeks worth of food to the Shellbacks in order to gain access to one of their maps of the hunting grounds. The map details an area called the Fitspiks, a place that few tread without a guide. The Fitspiks, as described by the clattering traders, is a massive web of flowing water and spidery tunnels cloaked in complete darkness. As dangerous as it is rewarding, the hunting grounds holds a beast that the Shellbacks call a roamer, which only dwells in such wet, confined areas.
Hearth was also able to convince one of the travelers associating with the Shellbacks to join their group. The new member is a woman of young age, though scarred and worn. She states that her name is Herder and was cast away due to a lost duel against a rival. She states that she knows many things about animals and could possibly help with hunting and trapping of the wild animals in the old pasture.
-10 food
-4 favor
The final gathering goes without much interest. The gatherer moves through the familiar areas and collects the plants, seeds, and makes clippings in order to start the new farm. The beginnings of the farm are an experience for the gatherer, as inexperienced as the entire collective is. The plants take to their new surroundings astoundingly quick, draining the resources provided at an alarming rate. The sweet-muck soaks up the water in the pots like a dry sponge, the flesh fruit vines drain the nutrients from the soil as fast as they can take it up, and the funnel-frost crawls its way through the stone tubes when it is placed. The Shellbacks warn that farming in an intensive process and requires quite a lot of supervision, as the plants hunger as much as they produce...
+2 food
Two members of the family go out to hunt in the old pasture, stalking their way with silent footsteps and trained eyesight. They move through the less-traveled pathways and down a steep incline, into a dome-shaped interior where the blind, flightless birds grazed on some wriggling shapes in the muck. With two clean, well-aimed shots, the two hunters manage to bag two of the birds to bring back. Skinning and plucking the birds is as tiresome as ever, but the meat is a welcome addition to the food stores.
+12 food
Seer and another one of the family members remains behind and sees to the spiritual worship, sending the smoke clouds containing the prayers and hopes of the group. Seer also adds onto the shrine, carving a deep gash around the stone base and using clay and fire to solidify the structure. As the week passes, water begins to accumulate in the clay gash, stagnating and shimmering. Seer explains that the gash is to represent Haln, where no light touches, for it is the resting place of all things and where all water flows. It is said that the souls that are not brought to Elly'Asim still float in the waters of Haln, waiting to be raised up.
+4 favor
The new arrival means that there is another mouth to feed. The traders bid farewell to everyone, moving along into the darkness. The sounds of their shells echo for quite some time into the dark...
-6 food
Morale: Ecstatic
Food: 21
Preserved Food: 0
People: 6
Favor: 6
Nothing else matters to you right now.
Mi'zek: You step upon it now. It is the world.
Elly'Asim: Land where the gods reside. Sometimes the gods give upon us gifts and boons. Other times they rain down punishment for transgressions only they understand. Fashioning a totem to appease the gods of Elly'Asim is standard practice in order to gain favor.
The Beast: An immense creature twice the size of a normal man. Covered in fur and with the head of a wolverine, this creature has terrorized Mi'zek for as long as can be remembered. It was the creature that claimed the old tribe.
Gyar: Humanoid creatures plated in blue scales that sometimes wander among the lands of Mi'zek. They wield dangerous magics and some say that they come from Elly'Asim. They tend to ignore humans unless provoked.
Rot: A hodgepodge of diseases and fungi that infect both animal and plant. Most are benign and treatable but some can carry a terrifying fury, wiping out entire settlements in under a season.
Tilter'Skapen: An old tribe that has weathered many hardships throughout the seasons. They make their home in the salt-vine wallows some distance away. The passageways often twist upon themselves as the vines restructure and whither with the rot.
Shellbacks: Wandering nomads that stalk the lands of Mi'zek for sustenance before moving on. They often trade goods with the more sedentary tribes.
Fitspiks: An old hunting grounds known to the Shellbacks. It is a winding maze of tight tunnels and rushing water filled with secrets. Home to strange grazing creatures.
Haln: The darkest depths where no light can ever touch. Even during the season of plenty it is a barren place. It is where all things flow and where all souls shall end up.
Timekeeping: You learn how to keep time and can keep a calendar. There are four seasons, 12 months, with four weeks each month as follows:
DARK SEASON
Mundar
Trundset
Feldsden
FLOOD SEASON
Fibst
Porsht
Wedsdar
PLENTY SEASON
Kunem
Forp
Nurm
ROT SEASON
Bunp
Asadasim
Ginnentonik
Basic Toolmaking: Your tribe knows how to fashion simple tools from scavenged materials and stone. This includes items such as spears, handaxes, hammers, etc.
Basic Weaving: Your tribe knows how to fashion woven objects and tools out of vines and plants. This includes items such as baskets, bed mats, slings, rope, etc.
Sticky Cement: Your tribe knows how to harvest a strong adhesive from Grippers and can use it as a robust building material.
Bowyer: Your tribe knows how to fashion and work wood into a bow and how to fetch simple arrow heads from stone.
Dry Racks: Your tribe knows how to smoke food over dry heat in order to preserve it for longer, preventing contamination from rot and pestilence.
How do you spend your people tokens?
Gather from the local farm for food.
Gain 6 food.
Chance to gain lore. (25%)
Hunt the local game in the area with sling, bow, and spear.
Chance to gain 2-10 food.
Low Chance for injury. (5%)
Chance to gain lore. (25%)
Chance to gain knowledge. (20%)
Progress towards trapping (0/15).
Preserve the food you have on the drying racks. Preserved food will not rot.
Convert 2 food to 1 preserved food.
The shelter is coming along nicely, but there is more work to be done.
Will improve Morale. (100%)
Very good chance to gain knowledge. (60%)
The wilds of Mi'zek are full of secrets to uncover. Sending out someone to search for new locations is paramount to survival.
Chance to improve morale. (30%)
Chance to gain lore. (25%)
Chance to gain knowledge. (40%)
Chance to gain people. (50%)
Chance for injury. (10%)
Chance to encounter The Beast. (
)
Spending time to worship allows for some rest and to curry favor from the gods.
Chance to gain 1-3 favor.
Chance to improve morale. (30%)
Chance to gain lore. (50%)
Seer would like to return his daughter's token to her grave, as he is ready to confront his past.
Requires Seer and one other person.
May lead to unexpected rewards...
Author
Topic: Tunnel Quest [SG] (Read 6383 times)