TUW: The Outpost

[Kwargrow]

"Let's be quick about it, my friend. I fear the scent of blood will attract more than we would wish to deal with."

Still smiling, Taylar looks around before excitedly asking Raven Elk, "Why? What do you think will show up? Maybe something I wouldn't have to exaggerate to get a good story out of, huh?"

Taylar helps with moving the guts and smoking the meat. While they wait for the meat to cure he takes a few swings with his two handed club. "I feel like I can make this thing more dangerous," he says. "Maybe I'll add a big hammer head on the end of it. Won't take two knocks to finish a pig then."

 

[MacConnell]

Y 0: Day 159: Doldrums 39: Brown Rooter Sows, part 3

Raven elk, still keeping an eye out on the perimeter, says:
"Let's not forget our original reason for being out here. Ma would not be happy. And the bug situation would not be addressed."

GM: OOC: Konokoro: Affect: Self Effectiveness: Essence + Adhesion + Collegiate This is like a sixth sense. It is a paranormal spacial awareness. It is used to augment non-Collegiate Tasks such as defensiveness and perception. The specific use of this technique is listed under each Commercial Task to which it can be applied. Perception: Konokoro (Collegiate Task) + Mind + Knowledge + Commercial This passive technique represents watching and listening to the immediate area to determine patterns, anomalies, or dangers. Raven Elk: 9 + 10 + 80(d100) = 99 The only animals in the area other than small birds, insects, and lizards are some large squirrels high in the trees. Nothing dangerous is perceived.

Vittero looks up from the pig he is cleaning. He scratches his head with his forearm trying not to get blood in his face.
"Have no doubt, my friend. I estimate that we had been traveling for about 3 hours when we encountered these pigs. Your Ma said that the herb field was a day's walk. We still have about another 7 hours to go before we are even in the vicinity of the beetle problem. We should not be expected back in town for 3 or 4 days."

Vittero laughs at his own realization.
"That may be why she offered this task. It gets us out from local mischief for a few days."

Raven Elk then quickly looks to Maka and Taylar and adds: "We may think ourselves as rebels and freebooters; but we have never dishonored ourselves, nor have we have ever not followed through on a promise."

Vittero, who is almost always jovial, laughs again.
"Well Taylar and me for sure! I prefer the term adventurer, though. Out of respect for Maka and his Rheini clan, we need to make sure that we do not waste all this meat or these skins. We have the time. It will be dark before we are finished. Our chance for predators will be greater then. We can move off some before we sleep."

Still smiling, Taylar looks around before excitedly asking Raven Elk,
"What do you think will show up? Maybe something I wouldn't have to exaggerate to get a good story out of, huh?"

Vittero roars, laughing.
"Rebel!"

When Vittero has finished gutting his pig, he clears an area and builds a fire. As he looks down at the pile of kindling, he gets a tingling sensation all over. The hair on his arms stands out. He reaches down and touches the wood which immediately ignites of its own volition.

He jumps back, having startled himself.
"Whoa! I did not know I could do that. I think we should keep this among ourselves. My father has the gift of healing, but he is dedicated to The Dawn. This is different. I do not know what the townspeople might think."

Taylar helps with moving the guts and smoking the meat. While they wait for the meat to cure he takes a few swings with his two handed club.
"I feel like I can make this thing more dangerous. Maybe I'll add a big hammer head on the end of it. Won't take two knocks to finish a pig then."

Vittero looks over at him, recovering from his momentary shock at his own talent and sticks out his tongue.
"You are just showing off because I can make fire."

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Maka says, "I would never break my word, especially to your Ma. I simply meant that once the bugs have been dealt with, we don't have to return to town right away. We could stay out here awhile longer afterwards, and enjoy a little pig hunting."

 

[Waynan]

Raven Elk shrugs, nods in agreement to Maka's statement, then finds a place to set up his own bit of camp, even though he knows it is temporary --- until the smoking and curing are done.

He hopes that none of them take too much note of his not getting in on the gutting, skinning and cleaning of the sows. He never liked pigs or the meat from them. It is why he wears sheepskin only. Ma always chuckled at his dislike of pork and all porcine creatures, since she cooked it so often herself. He would eat fruits, nuts, vegetables and breads those meals.

He wondered if his friends, close as they were, ever really made note of his subtle refusal to eat the flesh of hogs. He knew Ma would never tell; but, he wondered all the same.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

"...He wondered if his friends, close as they were, ever really made note of his subtle refusal to eat the flesh of hogs. He knew Ma would never tell; but, he wondered all the same."

OOC: Although Raven Elk cannot hear Maka's exact thoughts, some of what is on Maka's mind is conveyed through his body language / other social queues.

Maka muses inwardly: ~Raven Elk does not like the flesh of hogs; and that's fine, I guess. More for me. I know it's not deer, or rabbit, or buffalo, but it's still tender, and it's not gamy like raccoon, and there is no reason not to make use of it. My father would beat me if I did not help clean the group's kill. The sows are still our Earth-sisters, and we still owe them the respect of making full use of what he have taken from them.~

"Every kill cannot be an Elk, my brother. You should eat. The sow meat is a gift, and we should not refuse it." Maka smiles, ribbing Raven Elk a little, in a good-natured way.

 

[Kwargrow]

Taylar says, "I knew a man that died from eating uncooked pork. When I asked my father about it, he said you have to cook the pig well enough so that it does not come back to life while it is inside you and tear your intestines out. Any meat that is that dangerous should give me plenty of strength."

He stretches and looks around. "I wonder if we could find something to ride out here. That would make these trips less tedious."

 

[MacConnell]

Y 0: Day 159: Doldrums 39: Brown Rooter Sows, part 4

Maka says,

"... We could stay out here awhile longer afterwards, and enjoy a little pig hunting."

GM: An hour or so into the curing of the pork, it occurs to Maka that he is looking at 120 bricks of meat, which means that each person will need to carry 30 bricks without a good means of wrapping it. That is a lot of weight.

OOC: 1 brick ~= 1 pound

Raven Elk hopes that none of them take too much note of his not getting in on the gutting, skinning and cleaning of the sows. He never liked pigs or the meat from them.

Maka -

"Every kill cannot be an Elk, my brother. You should eat. The sow meat is a gift, and we should not refuse it." Maka smiles, ribbing Raven Elk a little, in a good-natured way.

Taylar says,

"I knew a man that died from eating uncooked pork. When I asked my father about it, he said you have to cook the pig well enough so that it does not come back to life while it is inside you and tear your intestines out. Any meat that is that dangerous should give me plenty of strength."

Vittero bobbles his head back and forth once.
"You are not having any? At least we brought some rations with use, then. Ooh! If I eat Raven's portion, I wonder if I will grow up to be as big as Taylar?"

Taylar stretches and looks around.

"I wonder if we could find something to ride out here. That would make these trips less tedious."

Vittero laughs.
"You are joking! You would kill some burro that tried to carry you... but on that thought, this is a whole lot of meat to carry. Having a pack animal would be really useful."

Vittero takes the intestines from one of the pigs and stretches them between two trees until it becomes a taut line.
"Hopefully we can get some replacement bow strings from this and it will give us a way to tie the meat into baldrics."

GM: Seeing Vittero do such brings another benefit to Maka's mind. He takes the four stomachs and cleans them as best he can, then fills them with air tying off both ends. His hope is that if they will keep until returning to town perhaps they can be properly cleaned and turned into waterskins.

GM: After about 3 hours, the distinct sounds of some peculiar creatures can be heard approaching from downwind. The sound is odd, not something anyone has heard before.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Maka pauses, and stands up.

"I think we have company," he says, pointing in the direction of the noise.

 

[Waynan]

Raven Elk quickly takes up a defensive position toward the direction of the noise, his spear at the ready.

 

[Kwargrow]

Taylar keeps his club at the ready, listening and feeling the vibrations of the ground to determine the approach of the creature.