• Solo • [North Woods] Edible (Graded)

Etzos, ‘The City of Stones’ is a fortress against the encroachment of Immortal domination of Idalos. Founded on the backs of mortals driven to seek their own destiny independent of the Immortals, the city has carved itself out of the very rock of the land. Scourged by terrible wars of extermination, they've begun to grow again, and with an eye toward expansion, optimism is on the rise.

Moderator: Basilisk Snek

User avatar
Rokas
Approved Character
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 6:57 pm
Race: Human
Profession: Muscle
Renown: 20
Character Sheet
Character Wiki
Templates
Wealth Tier: Tier 7

Milestones

Miscellaneous

[North Woods] Edible (Graded)



Cylus 6th Arc 721

Are those edible, you think? Rokas asked.

The wind, which’d been painting ripples in small puddles dotted around the forest floor, held its breath. Swirling away from the water, it knocked on the glass windows of fire’s chamber. Funneled though the small holes that prevented it from choking itself out. The little flame hissed and flickered, its peaceful and near immobile state disturbed. Dancing on the wick for a moment, fire then settled back into tranquility. Wind resumed its games.

Right. Fire?

It twitched in annoyance, but responded anyway. Not a helpful answer, though definitely one Rokas should have expected.

For you maybe, but not for me.

He sighed, squinting at the shrubbery, brought one of the branches closer to his eyes. Small and blue orbs growing between needle-like leaves, blue berries that weren’t blueberries. Those were shaped a little differently. Also didn’t grow on coniferous plants. These did, and they were unfamiliar. Rokas was by no means inexperienced at living outdoors, but all knowledge and skill degraded somewhat after periods of disuse. It had been years since last time he foraged in the woodlands. Several pieced of useful information had fled his memory, despite coming so easily before.

Thick fingers plucked one of the berries off the thin yet rugged branch, careful not to squash it by accident. Tested its hardness, the tension of its skin and flesh. He sniffed it, taking deep and long whiffs. It told him barely anything. Apart from a hint of forest scent, Rokas didn’t smell much. Maybe some pine, though it could very well be some resin from the branch and needles sticking to the sand on his fingertips.

Inconclusive. Maybe tasting one would help. As long as he didn’t swallow it, poisonous fruit did no harm. Though he really needn’t pop it into his mouth in its entirety to get a taste. With a nail, Rokas carved a line into the fruit, squeezing out some of the sap, licking it off a finger. Bitter. Gritty. Again he couldn’t tell if he tasted berry or maybe some residue of resin sticking to his hands. The grittiness had to be grains of sand though.

Ultimately, the experiment imparted no new evidence for either possibility. Bitter usually meant poisonous, but not always. Or not in a way that affected humans. He frowned, flicking the squeezed berry back into the bush.

Well, no matter. He could let Joe taste test them, and if the man started foaming at the mouth, experienced horrid abdominal cramps, or fell sideways and straight up died, Rokas would know for a fact these weren’t edible.

He began plucking those he figured were ripe, and placed them in a basket he’d brought along. Pulling and pushing aside branches to reach berries that grew a bit deeper in the bush. Gathering progressed quickly, until a fairly thick layer of blue berries lined the inside of the basket, and the shrubs only held unripe fruits. He performed a final check, reaching in deep to make sure he hadn’t missed any. Sticking his head in, past the thick stem, hands opening up a hole to the backside of the bush, revealing what lied behind. Not a grouping of plants, like he’d expected. Not a view of trees and forest floor with puddles of snowmelt-water.

Instead a pair of beady eyes stared back, set into a face with stiff and rough-looking hairs. At the tip of its snout sat a large, flat, triangular nose tipped with mud. Large tusks curling out of its maw. All of it attached to a squat yet highly muscular form.

The boar shrieked, propelling forward in an instant, smashing its skull into Rokas’s groin. He toppled like a falling log, slow at first, then faster and unstoppable. Snapping branches under his weight, slamming down into the mud, barely missing the basket of food.

Air knocked out of his lungs, Rokas groaned and tried scrambling back to his feet, clutching his aching nethers. The pain creeped up into his stomach, a slow burn that would persist for some time. He blinked a pair of tears out of his eyes as the beast rushed up for a second charge, yellowed tusks at the ready. Rokas focused his inner voice and called out for assistance. Within the lantern, fire exploded into a giant flare, streaming out of the airholes at the top, trailing through the air like a flaming snake. Reaching Rokas, it compressed for a moment, then expanding into a large and flat rectangle of hungry tongues, reflected in the boar’s black eyes.

Yelping, the swine planted its hooves, skidding to a stop right in front of it, turning away. A whip of fire lashed out from the sheet, searing flesh and hair, filling the air with the scent of burnt leather. The boar screeched in pain and fear, dashing back into the bushes as fast as its stubby legs could carry it.

Rokas released out a drawn-out sigh, square of floating fire dying out before him. No longer fed with ether or anything else, the element couldn’t sustain itself, and faded into nothingness. It flowed back into the lantern before it disappeared completely, resuming its former placid state. Rokas picked it up along with the basket, and headed bow-legged in the direction opposite of where the pig had gone.


word count: 911
User avatar
Rokas
Approved Character
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 6:57 pm
Race: Human
Profession: Muscle
Renown: 20
Character Sheet
Character Wiki
Templates
Wealth Tier: Tier 7

Milestones

Miscellaneous

Re: [North Woods] Edible



A dented oil lantern sat on the forest floor next to a basket filled up halfway with different species of berries. Its flickering light kept the darkness of Cylus at bay, revealing colors and details. Leafless trees cast long shadows, blending in the blackness outside of the small circle of illumination. At the border of light and dark, Rokas took a break.

Filling the basket with berries had taken several hours of seeking and plucking and estimating the ripeness of the fruit. While some berries still grew despite the season, the harvest was less bountiful as hoped, even after spending extra time foraging food. Though, half a basket of berries still made for a tasty treat and a welcome change from the diet of dried rations and hard biscuits he’d kept up for more than a season.

Heeding the call of nature, Rokas sought out a spot in the shadows of a rather large tree, planted his feet wide, and expelled excess liquid built up within his bladder. It splattered against the trunk, snaking down small channels in the bark, pooling on the wet earth below. He broke his connection with the elements while going about his business, preferring a few moments of alone time. While he rarely did mind their continual chatting and constant presence hovering around him, some things required a modicum of privacy. Besides, it made Rokas slightly uncomfortable to hear his own urine begin a conversation mere moments after leaving his body.

Though truth be told, the sudden absence of otherwise ever-present voices built up a feeling of loneliness rather quickly. What’s more, without their presence blanketing him, Rokas sensed goosebumps ripple down his back in waves. Skin prickling under the many-eyed glare of whatever was out here, hiding in the shadows. Bare flesh squirming under clothes, anticipating harm and injury. Just a mortal, deaf and blind to the world now the elements couldn’t provide guidance. Limited. Unprotected.

But his human senses still functioned, still diligent and alert. On the lookout in the elements’ stead, perking up when confronted with sudden noises, darting shadows and silhouettes, the rushing of air across skin. Aware of the wind shaking the trees, of it plucking loose grains of soil from the layer covering Rokas’s body, of the shine of the lantern light, of the clattering of liquid on bark. Of the sharp tang of yellow urine.

Of a smacking behind him, loud and unrestrained, paired with a soft yet contented grunting. Rokas whipped around –stream fortunately drying up—to see a wild pig with its head buried in the basket, devouring mouthfuls of berries with gusto. It stared at him with unblinking beady eyes, taunting. Crushed and half-chewed fruits spilling from the overflowing snout as its jowls bounced up and down, filling the air with soppy noises.

“Oi!” Rokas yelled, shaking off his genitals. “Those are mine!”

Not quite intimidated, the boar didn’t care. Instead of running off, it produced a mocking snort, shoved its face back into the basket, and ate another mouthful of berries. Fire flared within the lantern, leaking out the top like a malevolent spirit, tendrils of flame lashing out at the thieving pig.

It shrieked, spitting out the blue mush within its maw, and dashed out of reach of the fiery tentacles, trampling the basket in the process. Though spooked, the beast didn’t flee. Instead it rushed Rokas, who was caught in the middle of putting away his equipment and buttoning up his pants. Earth’s warning came too late, and Rokas himself wasn’t built for nimbleness. The boar mowed his legs out from under him, sending him crashing into the ground for the second time this day.

He would have landed in his own puddle, if not for it drawing away under water’s orders. Flowing up and over a little heap of earth and into a hole in the ground. Rokas balled his fists, picking himself up from the floor, brow furrowed, nostrils flared. Eyes focused on a burn mark on one of the boar’s flanks.

“You again, huh? You’ve got some nerve showing your ugly mug before me, piggie!” His whole body trembled, throbbing pain forcibly pushed to the back of his mind. “We’ve got a score to settle, you and I.”

The beast seemed to agree, charging at him once more, picking up speed as it went. In front of it the earth writhed, softening under its hooves to the point they sunk in with each step. It hardened immediately after, attempting to grapple it, but the beast moved too fast. By the time the earth solidified, the pig already pulled its feet back out. Rokas had to throw himself out of the boar’s path to not be caught by its tusks.

He rolled through the mud for a few moments, rising onto a knee a second later. The boar swiveled around for another charge, speeding towards him once more. A slab of solid stone sprang up, too close to the pig for it to stop or alter course. It crashed headlong into it, staggering backward in a daze. Earth grabbed its hooves, locking the animal in place. It squealed and struggled, pitch shifting high and urgent as Rokas approached, layer of stone forming on top of his knuckles. Thick and heavy; like knuckledusters.

“You made a big mistake, piggie.” He bashed the boar’s skull with one rock-encrusted fist, forcing the head to rotate sideways. The pig screamed. “Ramming me in the dick? Fine.” Another blow, knocking loose on of the tusks. “Attacking me? Go right ahead.” A third punch, this time something cracked under the force, the anguished screeching of the pig echoed through the trees. “But eating my berries? My dinner?” He whacked the boar again. And again. Denting bone, breaking skin, causing blood to spurt out, coating his knuckles. Until the pained squeals died out. “Why, that puts you on the menu instead. And I’m absolutely certain that you are edible!”


word count: 1011
User avatar
Jackalope
Posts: 420
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2021 7:34 pm
Race: Human
Renown: 0
Wealth Tier: Tier 1

Contribution

RP Medals

Events

Re: [North Woods] Edible


Experience: +10 xp

Knowledge:

-Defiance - Dancing: Fire Sheet
-Defiance - Dancing: Lash of flame
-Defiance - Caress: Stone Knuckles
-Endurance: Taking a blow to the groin
-Strength: Bashing a skull
-Detection: The sound of something snacking on your food

Skillplay: Appropriate to level

Loot: None.

Injuries/Overstepping: Pain, for the rest of the trial.

Magic Experience?: +5 Defiance.

Renown: None.

Comments: “Edible.” It’s a thread of a boar and a boar of a…well, no, it’s not a bore of a thread at all. Quite the opposite.

But first, the negative, more of a nitpick, actually. You mention “Wilderness Survival” as a skill used in your request, and it’s also on your character sheet. Not a thing. The skill is called “Field Craft.” Please fix that.

Okay, that out of the way, I love how you write Rokas’ relationship with the elements. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that before. The image of his own urine becoming water that can talk to him was very imaginative. I can see why Rokas would want to tune out when relieving himself!

This is obviously a well thought-out thread with a strong central theme (edibility). Please keep them coming!

Let me know if either of you have any questions/feedback. Enjoy your rewards!
word count: 213
Post Reply Request an XP Review Claim Wealth Thread

Return to “Western: Etzos”