• Solo • The bear necessities of life will come to you

Plot hook followup from the Forging event.

Once an isolated and dying township, an influx of academics, adventurers and thrill seekers have made Scalvoris Town their home. From scholars' tea shops to a new satellite campus for Viden Academy, this is an exciting place to visit or make your home!

Moderators: Pegasus Pug!!!, Avalon

User avatar
Oram Mednix
Approved Character
Posts: 948
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:59 am
Race: Human
Profession: Ranger-in-Chief
Renown: 960
Character Sheet
Character Wiki
Letters
Point Bank Thread
Wealth Tier: Tier 10

Featured

Contribution

Milestones

RP Medals

Miscellaneous

Events

The bear necessities of life will come to you

41 Ymiden 721
In the last couple trials, many memories had snapped into place in Oram’s mind, some enlightening, some distressing. He found that he had new abilities and companions, as well as new burdens. One of those burdens took the form of a request, made of him after the Forging by the Immortal Ralaith. A request that involved, of all things, bears, and bumble bears in particular.

The hunter had not, at that time, made any pledge to help, nor did he know how he felt about doing so. His father had gone to hunt bumble bears when he had perished, apparently under the very claws of the quarry he hunted. Such was the life of a hunter, Oram knew, especially one who pursued big game. Oram did not hate bumble bears nor think of them as evil, nor indeed even particularly ill-tempered as beasts went. And yet, the idea of seeking them out made him feel ambivalent. He had sworn to himself at the time that he would never pursue pointless glory nor wreckless exploits. Why hunt dangerous game just to prove that one could?

That said, Ralaith’s request had been different. The Immortal sought to help the bears, whose numbers were dwindling. That still meant seeking them out, crossing paths with them, approaching close enough to determine what they were doing. Wild animals did not usually distinguish between men trying to hunt them and those trying to help them. It did mean, however, that Oram would not need to take more risks than he wanted to in dealing with the bears. He would not need to seek confrontation, and could withdraw to avoid provoking the animals.

Their numbers were dwindling, Ralaith had said. The Immortal wondered if perhaps the bears could be relocated. That involved many things, including finding out how the bears lived, and whether there were other places they might inhabit that would offer them what they needed. Normal bears, Oram knew, were generalists. There were any number of places where they might thrive. Bumble bears, however, subsisted largely on grizzly bee honey, and there was only one place Oram knew of that offered such. Could bumble bears even be relocated? And if not, how might their numbers be maintained and increased?

Before simply wandering down to the Golden Cliffs cold, Oram decided to do something he rarely did: he went to the Academy to do research. And like any hunter entering unfamiliar territory, he would want a guide. Thus, his first stop would be to talk to Professor Jasper Seams. Perhaps the Sev’ryn would show an interest in his project. Perhaps Oram could even get the Academy to sponsor it. Any expedition he took would require both resources and time, and he doubted he could marshal much of either without outside help and sponsorship.
word count: 474
Villains are powerless against story beats.
User avatar
Oram Mednix
Approved Character
Posts: 948
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:59 am
Race: Human
Profession: Ranger-in-Chief
Renown: 960
Character Sheet
Character Wiki
Letters
Point Bank Thread
Wealth Tier: Tier 10

Featured

Contribution

Milestones

RP Medals

Miscellaneous

Events

Re: The bear necessities of life will come to you

One can never Smoogl enuff

Seams was in that trial, and was happy to see Oram. The Professor listened closely to the hunter explain the request that Ralaith had made, what he already knew of bears, what he wanted to find out. Seams thought a moment. ”You probably already know as much about black bears as anybody who might have written a book I have,” he said. ”…but it is possible that there is something particular to bumblebears. I think I remember seeing a book at the Scholar’s Nook about it. I didn’t read it, though. I wasn’t researching bears at the time, you see.”

So, it was off to the Scholar’s Nook for Oram. To his disappointment, Perdita Westcot was not there to help out with his researches. However, the topic the hunter was interested in was sufficiently narrow, and sufficiently familiar to him, that he hoped to be able to find what he needed on his own, once he knew where to find books on the Sweetwine Forest.

The section there was both larger and generally less useful than the hunter had expected. Two entire bookcases were dedicated mainly to the Sweetwine. There was, however, no obvious monograph on bears in the forest; there were books detailing the fauna more broadly, yet on browsing them Oram found that these, as Seams had predicted, contained little specific to bears that Oram did not already know. Moreover, although there were books on the Golden Cliffs, these mentioned Bumble Bears a-plenty, but did not really go into detail about their life cycle or habits. One of the more promising books, however, titled simply: “My Adventures in the Golden Cliffs” by someone named Venri Ooff-Snogelmun, did mention a thing or two about how bumble bears hunted the grizzly bee honey, and also contained a surprising amount of detail on grizzly bees and their honey.

Ooff-Snogelmun claimed that grizzly bees had an indefinite life span, and that they could, over time reach a size several times that of a normal bee. The grizzly bees that ranged farthest from the hive tended to be the youngest, and thus smallest, while the more senior workers stayed closer to the hive. That was probably why, Ooff-Snoglemun hypothesized, the bees seemed to get bigger as one went deeper into the Sweetwine, approaching the Golden Cliffs.

The bees were more than just a curiosity, the author reported, but were essential to pollinating flowers throughout the island. He also said that, while the bees did not die of old age, they were susceptible to diseases. One such he modestly referred to as “Ooff-Snoglemun’s Syndrome”, a condition whereby the bee’s ability to resist certain parasitic fungi was compromised. Such bees literally grew moldy as a result of opportunistic fungal infections, and eventually died. Healthy bees instinctually warned infected ones away from the hive, so one rarely saw such diseased bees in or near the Golden Cliffs.

Oram noted the book; it was interesting, and perhaps indirectly useful: the fates of animals were tied to that of their preferred food sources, he knew, so potential problems with grizzly bees could affect the bears. Eventually, though, the traveler put it aside. He was determined to find out whether the book Professor Seams had mentioned were there.

High and low Oram searched, a break or more, the same two bookcases.. One of the staff approached at last to ask if they could help him. He was just about to say “yes” when he noticed a book that had fallen behind the facing rows. It was small, with worn lettering one could no longer read. On retrieving the book and opening it, he saw a title page that read: ”The Lyffe and Demeenor of the Wondrus Flying Bears of the Golden Cliffes”. He leafed through the book carefully for several trills before he realized that the attendant was still standing there, awaiting his answer. ”I may have what I need at last, thank you,” he responded. As the attendant withdrew, Oram hoped he had told him aright.
word count: 684
Villains are powerless against story beats.
User avatar
Oram Mednix
Approved Character
Posts: 948
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:59 am
Race: Human
Profession: Ranger-in-Chief
Renown: 960
Character Sheet
Character Wiki
Letters
Point Bank Thread
Wealth Tier: Tier 10

Featured

Contribution

Milestones

RP Medals

Miscellaneous

Events

Re: The bear necessities of life will come to you

Bancing Dears

Oram sat at a table with the old book and took the reading spectacles off for a moment to rub his eyes tiredly. He had told the attendant that he had all that he needed, and that was probably true as far as anything the Scholar’s Nook could offer, yet he did not feel he had attained much to help him with his project. The hunter had, perhaps naively, hoped that telling Seams about his endeavor would net him some interest, some enthusiasm, perhaps even an offer of support or sponsorship, yet the professor gave him little besides the most general of suggestions -albeit one that had born some fruit, thanks mainly to Oram’s own efforts.

The book itself was hard to read. The author wrote oddly, making references Oram didn’t understand, and using odd, quaint words phrases that even the magic of his spectacles did not always help him decipher, or using words he did know in unfamiliar ways. Nor was it organized in a way more recent books were, with indices and tables of contents. The book’s title page and cover didn’t even identify the author.

In spite of these oddities, it turned out to have a wealth of information about bumble bears. In many respects, they were just slightly larger-than-average brown bears, and had a lot of the same habits and peculiarities. The author attributed to the animals a high level of intelligence and organization. While Oram knew that some animals could be every bit as smart as mortals, he also knew that people often ascribed more awareness and mortal-like purpose to animals than they actually had, so he reserved judgment on those claims.

The author stated that bumble bears abounded in Scalvoris. They could be found in the Sweetwine, in the mountains, in the jungle. They were omnivores and opportunistic predators, whose diet and habitat were apparently much more versatile than Oram had assumed. That could prove useful, should he find himself trying to figure out whether the bears could be relocated to preserve and restore their numbers. But in that case, the traveler wondered, why were the bears so much more limited now? Bumble Bears were almost never seen any more outside the Sweetwine, and were only common near the Golden Cliffs. The anonymous author, apparently writing at a time when the bears were still widespread and numerous, offered no answers for this riddle.

The author described the bears’ ability to levitate, explaining how they used it not only to ascend the golden cliffs to get at grizzly bee honey, but also to help climb trees when startled, or to evade hunters. The bears could not fly; they had not the means to move horizontally at will, but only float up and down. However, they could push off one tree with their claws to get the momentum needed to float to another tree. The anonymous author called this method of floating along from tree to tree “scudding”. The height they could reach, and how long they could stay up, increased with age.

This ability was one of the things that made bumble bears hard to hunt. To counter this, hunting bands often used nets to immobilize them, or surrounded them in open fields where they had nothing to push off for scudding. Another trait the bears had making them hard to hunt was that their fur held no scent at all, whether their own or any from their surroundings. A solo hunter who could bring down a bumble bear was a rare one indeed.

Upon reading this last bit, Oram had to stop. Not only was it getting late, and he hungry as well as tired, but the mention of a hunter trying to bring down a bumble bear solo reminded him uncomfortably of his own father’s demise. It was time to stop reading and go home. Perhaps he would come back and try to learn from this book another time, assuming he could even find the obscure and anonymous tome again.

word count: 678
Villains are powerless against story beats.
User avatar
Pig Boy
City Moderator
City Moderator
Posts: 5940
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:54 pm
Race: Prophet
Profession: Rharne City Moderator
Renown: 666
Office
Templates
Point Bank Thread
Wealth Tier: Tier 1

Featured

Contribution

RP Medals

Staff

Events

Re: The bear necessities of life will come to you

Image
Image
Image

Player Name: Oram Mednix

Points awarded: 10
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

[Hunting] Bumble bear diet, habitat and general behavior.
[Hunting] Bumble bear levitation and “scudding”.
[Linguistics] Languages change over time, making older texts harder to read than more recent ones.
[Research] The book you are looking for may be mis-placed or mis-categorized.
[Science] Animals have their own distinct diseases and parasites.
[Science] Bees are vital to pollinating all sorts of plants.

Renown: 0
Loot: data
Injuries/Overstepping: none
Wealth Points: n/a

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level
Notes:

I like that you took the aftermath of the feast to address Oram's reaction to the various revelations therein, including the acquisition of powers as well as responsibility. Ralaith's task seems like an interesting one, and probably one that Oram is both uniquely suited to deal with, as well as one that he's uniquely ill-disposed toward with his father having fallen to Bumble Bears.

Still, I suspect that conservation isn't exactly Oram's focus as a hunter, but he's about to get a good idea of what it takes, it seems. I really enjoy that he's getting a rounded-out experience as a nature-man/ranger.

I was interested to read about the ailments of the grizzly bees. I had previously thought they were very die-hard and not susceptible to age and disease, but apparently, that's not the case! It explains why they don't infest the entire island, at least.

I thought it was very apropos that Oram couldn't decipher some of the more florid language of the person who authored the book he was studying the bears in. It'd be too easy to assume perfect ability to read/understand with just the spectacles that give him the skill to read. It really does the story credit and adds a layer of realism to the narrative that Oram still has difficulty in an unfamiliar situation, despite his magical item.

Well done, and good luck saving those bears!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!
word count: 362
Avatar provided by the wonderful Pegasus
Post Reply Request an XP Review Claim Wealth Thread

Return to “Scalvoris Town”