Melody, an elf receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild who is also an organizational phenom, left me to my own devices early this morning to return to her job after three days of us pretending our lives were simple.
To distract myself from thinking to hard about the trouble I caused that got me kicked out of said guild, and how it might affect Melody long-term, I’m experimenting with some of the ore I found in the cave and find that the electrum is by fare the easiest to remove from the rock surrounding it. I form the resultant molten metal into a slot carved out of wood and then round it out with a few dozen hammer taps.
I play with the small rod I make with it and find that it does indeed channel aether very well, it just can’t store much at all. Maybe I can imbue through it? I take out a crystal and it works, no appreciable loss. I feel as though there’s a throttle on the rate I can send aether, but otherwise it seems lossless. I do that for a time, stopper the bottles of arcane dust that I make and get terribly bored of the monotony.
Just as I’m about to start a fire for some glass tomfoolery, I get a message from Melody.
\I’m scheduled for overtime for the next few days and might just sleep at the Guild.\
/Alright. Let me know when that eases up and maybe I can have dinner ready when you get home?/
\You’re adorable. Deal.\
Mmm, warm fuzzies in my brain. Helping people you care for feels nice. That said, what am I going to do for several days!?
There’s always glass, but I don’t feel like tackling the mysteries of floating glass right now, and smithing is just frustrating me. Alchemy then? I know a few recipes from Maude at the healing house, mundane as they were. Problem is, I only have some damned mushrooms.
You also have a vast tract of wooded hills to collect from, doofus. I know some items to look for, but I’ve never been in the business of cultivating plants. But, I do have a farmer that’s caretaking my farmhouse. Perfect! Time to visit tanner and see if he has any extra sacks.
Lamenting that the Elf took Freckles, I plod along the path we’ve trodden in the field to get back to the house proper.
“’Lo the house!” I rap my knuckles on the old wood. I hear the scamper of feet before a human girl around ten to twelve years of age opens the door.
As soon as she sees me her eyes widen.
Crap is she about to scream? “Hi, I’m Zhantsa and I was looking for Tanner.”
She screams, but it’s not out of fear. She steps up and starts poking my face with glee.
“I’ve never seen a Troll before! You’re so pretty! Are all Trolls this pretty? Or is it just the Noble ones? Tanner says you’re a noble anyway. Tanner won’t stop talking about you, honestly. Though it is generous of you to let us stay in your house and use your land. Is that a temporary thing or can we like bring our family and keep living her?”
Oh dear Goddess, this kid. I grab her pokey hand and push it away. “I have told Tanner your family is welcome to stay and keep what they farm, but we haven’t made formal arrangements. Is your brother around.”
“Sure, he’s at the barn, framing a shed for you. Come on.” She grabs my hand and pulls me with her.
Absolutely no boundaries on this kid, holy cow.
“Tanner! The Lady Troll is looking for you.”
“I even introduced myself.” I mutter, but I guess she heard me.
“Your name sounds hard to say.” She shrugs.
I can’t really refute that, so I shake her hand loose and walk over to where I see a pile of wood sticking out past the barn. The frame for a particularly large shed reveals itself as I approach, along with a group of sweaty young men chatting during a water break. Wait, that one’s a woman with impressive arms and short hair.
“Can’t say I expected you all to start building so soon.”
Everything stops as they turn to watch me approach.
“Lady Frost!” Tanner scrambles forward to greet me, bowing in greeting when he stops.
“Tanner, for Goddess’ sake, there’s no need for that, but thank you just the same.”
The worry washes off his face. “My family is eager to change our living situation. And with what Miss Melody said about using the local trees, we saw no reason to wait. That’s not a problem is it?”
“No, no. Rest assured it is fine. I’m actually relieved to see your excitement as I feel that my land and my interests will be under the best of care.”
A handsome smile erupts on his face, his back straightening a little more. “It will be our pleasure, my Lady.” After an awkward pause, he asks. “Was there something you needed?”
“I was hoping to get some foraging advice? I’m about to go exploring for a few days, to see what kinds of herbs I can find, but I figured farmers and locals might have an idea of what else I might find.”
“Foraging? Not our forte, but Uncle Derrick and Isabel hunt, so they would likely be the best to ask.” An older man with a salt and pepper beard taps the well-armed woman and nods our way.
When the two get closer, I am assured that this whole family is handsome. Is there something in the water?
“You say something about hunting? It’s not wolves again is it?” Derrick asks
“I sure hope not, because I cleared a den on this land already, I really don’t want another one.”
He quirks his head slightly, “That was you?” I nod. “My thanks, then. Hunting has been better since. What might you ask of us, Lady Troll?”
“I’m going for a walkabout, and I want to keep an eye out for plants I can forage. I know some medicinal herbs, but I figured locals would know more.”
He nods and then describes a few water-loving plants that would live along a river or a pond. His daughter adds some additional detail in how they normally use and prepare said plants. They also apologize for not knowing more about plants in the wooded areas besides what the deer and pigs like. I ask them to describe those too, and they do but also look as though I’m crazy for wanting to eat them as the berries the hogs eat are poisonous to people.
I’m not regular people, but I also want to see what kinds of properties these things have when put through the alchemy system.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Izzy can go with you.” Derrick says, and the young woman practically sneers at him.
“That’s not necessary. I’m not as frail as I look, sir.” I raise an eyebrow, seeing what he’d do. He looks like he wants to say something, but it might just be to get Isabelle out of his hair. She swats her dad and grumbles something I can’t quite hear. Okay, I’d bet he’s trying to pawn her off on me.
While normally I would be happy at the opportunity to spend days alone with a handsome, beefy woman, I do not want to explain or lie to Lucy about what I’ve been doing in the woods not-quite alone.
“Also, no particular offense, but I don’t know her. I trust you all enough because you’re Tanner’s family, but that trust is all Tanner’s. That said, I look forward to getting to know all of you in the coming months and hopefully years.”
“You really don’t mind that we’re taking over your barn?” Isabelle asks.
“Tanner asked, I made conditions and he seemed happy enough. Plus, I get caretakers for this side of my property when I go on adventures and spend time in Marcrest.”
Derrick narrows his eyes at me, calculating what my angle must be. “Derrick, why don’t you, Tanner and I sit down and talk over your concerns in a week or so.”
He grunts, swats the back of Isabelle’s head and then walks back to the rest of the teens gathered by the water barrel.
“Sorry about that. Most of them think that there’s some hidden condition that I won’t tell them about.”
I snort, “Like I’m going to eat your first-born or something? There may not be anything on paper yet, but I have a record of our verbal agreements, and we can formalize them later.”
He waives the comment off. “No need for more hassle, Lady Frost. As you say, this is our agreement.”
I grin widely at that, “That’s the kind of confident attitude that I like to hear.”
I ask about an extra sack or two and he has his little sister fetch them for me. Armed with sacks and some idea of what I’m looking for, I head back to my little river and start walking upstream.
Walking into the hills a few hours later, the woods begin to thicken as do the shore plants as turns create low-flow areas where the vegetation can get a better foothold. I take some samples of the reeds, some tuberous frond plants, and see a couple of fish hanging out in said low-flow areas.
Birds and bugs are the only sign of wildlife that I’ve noticed beside the fish, but I don’t suppose that would be uncommon if I’d done the same trek on Earth. It’s also possible that the local wildlife sees me as a predator and is keeping a wide berth.
This might be the most peaceful, enjoyable day I’ve had in ages: Just me, nature, and a casual purpose. By the time the light gets low, I’m well into wooded territory and the hills have become less rolling and more hiking.
I don’t love the idea of sleeping in the open alone, but I refused any support, so I have to get over it. I walk into the forest a few paces so that I’m not in plain view of anything seeking water and nestle in against a tree with a crossbow in my arms.
***
I like hiking as much as the next girl, but the river went underground about an hour ago and halfway through day two, I’m getting a little frustrated. Water flows down, so going up in elevation may help me find it again, but there’s no guarantee that the damned thing re-emerges.
Maybe I’m just mad because I’m hungry. I bring out some food and start munching.
Shit, I forgot to take those out.
The world wobbles on me and I fall to my but as the damned thing keeps spinning. I attempt to meditate and use breath control exercises, but the world wobble persists. New sensations seep in as well, a spicy green smell that makes me want to roll in the scent, and ribbons of . . . glitter? Yeah, ribbons of glitter flowing from a direction that is not strictly toward the highest point I can see.
What’s better than a scent I want to cover myself in and a glitter ribbon? Nothing in my book! I stagger to my feet and start shambling in the direction of the ribbons. As the scent gets stronger, and the ribbons get thicker, my desire to roll and play gets stronger. After what must have been weeks of wanting, I take a step with no support underneath and tumble down a rocky embankment and land with a thud that knocks me out.
An indeterminate time later, an ache in my head and neck surge as I try to move. I look at the time in my HUD and find that it is nearly dinnertime on the second day. I was only stumbling around drugged for hours, not days. Thank Alaris.
I force myself into a sitting position despite the pain and take a look around. I gasp at the view.
A glittering pond sits in the basin I am in, surrounded by the greenest, most vibrant plant life I have ever seen. A burbling font of water in the craggy basin wall rushes down scree and bolders into said pond while the outlet quickly disappears into a crevice in the rubble below me.
The idyllic scene is so tranquil I almost forget what drew me here: The scent and the glitter. It’s not as prevalent, but I can still smell the effervescent rush of life and energy, as well as see the glittering potential I saw with the mushroom poison. Am I still drugged? Or did it mess with my brain? Best check the logs.
/due to hallucinogenic synesthesia, this manifests in both smell and sight.
That explains that. Super glad I didn’t accidentally kill myself. Might experiment in making this sense stronger with more mushrooms at a later time. For now, I have things to analyze!!
While the plants here are certainly sparkly (of which I take samples) nothing is quite as rich with them as the burbling font. I immediately take my two large bottles of [Mana Glass] and fill them full of the glittery water. I really want to explore this little grotto a bit more, but it is also getting late. I breath in with a sigh and commit to admitting my mistake to Melody.
/So, I got lost on my property and ended up falling into a pit. I’m fine, but I was knocked out for a while and won’t be able to make it to Marcrest tomorrow./
\Zhantsa dear, fine as in you’ll survive? Or fine as in you are merely delayed?\
/The second one. I may have gotten hungry enough to eat something I shouldn’t have./
\You’re not making this better. If I don’t see your face in three days, I will organize a party to find you. Message me when you get out of the ‘pit’.\
I confirm and sigh. Thank goodness for a reasonable woman. I proceed to strip and jump into the pond to see what I can see. I didn’t say I was reasonable.
The cracks in the pod basin are reasonably sized, which makes more sense as to why the outflow of the surface doesn’t correspond to the size of my river. Then again, my river is far less aether-rich than this, so it must meet with another underground spring—possibly the one my cave pond is from—to get to the full volume that I see near my forge.
My curiosity is nearly endless for discovery, but I can’t stay too long. The problem with curiosity though . . . ugh, I really want to stay here for a week, but I also want to make Melody feel appreciated and cared for. This spot isn’t going anywhere, Zhantsa. I fumble with my map and see if I can put a marker down, and lo and behold I can!
Since I won’t be able to search to my content, I give up on the premise entirely this trip. In my undies, I find a rocky part of the pond shore and sit low on the rocks and absorb the cool yummies and glitter that this water is full of.
I wake when my face smacks the water, signaling my time to get out. I chew on some jerky in the desolate, soothing night, and succumb to my urges to cut some of the grasses and eat them. What kind of omnivore are Trolls descended from that I have grass and gore urges?
I would only be half surprised if we were descended from some sort of nimble hippo. Alaris chuckles in my brain, telling me that she finds my ancestry speculation amusing, as she told me that Trolls are a native race of evolution on this planet. I find myself more interested in the anthropology of this world than that of my own. How curious.
I end up taking some whole-plant grasses in my sack to see if I can reproduce the tasty greens on my land, while samples of the other plants here are also taken besides the trees. I’ll have to come back near summer and early fall to see if these are the fruiting varieties of trees. In a grotto like this, I wouldn’t doubt that everything here is magical and edible. The water was sweet, clean and invigorating as well.
Looking at my map before I strike out, I see that I am much closer to the cave mouth than Tanner’s place or my apartment, so I head that direction, which is the shortest approach to Marcrest. I stop in the cave in late afternoon, deciding to hole up for the night, and to see what progress the cave has made in the days since I’ve been here.
Not much has regenerated, in fact, there seems little progress at all. Either this is a slow process, or there is a threshold like a weekly reset that I need to document further. Despite how real and worldly this place seems, it still has game elements. That said, this cave isn’t a dungeon, so the reset is likely not a thing in this stage of its development.
I was thinking about stopping by to see Leeda with a gift this trip, but does she deserve a gift? No, not really. But I do want to talk to her to see what her explosion was about. GAH!! Drama can kiss my ass. Maybe I should just go to Guiseppe’s to get my monthly fussing out of the way and get some more undies out of the deal. Maybe a heat resistant shirt too, I’m tired of having to put out my sleeves.
I get ambushed by some hogs after I decide to take a direct route from my cave to Marcrest instead of heading to the road. I’d love to say they came at me one on one, but the bastards surged me and I shot one with a bolt, stabbed another, while the third got a score on my leg. I tackled and gored that fucker right back. When the urge to open their bellies came, I regained control and gutted them with a knife I brought. I tie their tusks together and sling them over my back with the inside of their ribs open to the sun.