A whole new world

[aestrix]

There is a forest that likes to pretend that it's ordinary. It isn't, it's quite bizarre. Every night, in fact, zombies and other horrible monsters swarm this place, looking for people to kill. Not that they've found anyone, the forest itself is quite empty of residents. But they search anyway, during the night, shambling and groaning and occasionally leaving body parts lying around. Those disappear pretty quickly, but it still happens. Then the day comes, and they depart to who knows where, swearing (if mindless monsters could think, or in fact swear to anything in particular) that they'l be back the next night. Repeat ad nauseum.

It's currently in the day portion of this cycle of directionless attempts at violence. Maybe this day will be different from all of the others.

But then, probably not, it's a very boring island without anyone here.

Comments

[greatestgift]

Sable is not going to be condescended to by a horrible mindless person-thing. She ignores that undertone.

"Items that cause me to regenerate? What items?"

[aestrix]

"You can make a campfire with five torches and twenty wood."

[greatestgift]

"Sure."

She leaves Dylan in his house with the healing potions on his table, and for convenience's sake she makes a workbench and puts it against the wall of his house next to his door, and she makes a campfire and puts that in the middle of the open area between her house and the tiny houses.

[aestrix]

There's a warm feeling as soon as the campfire's down, that's quite separate from heat. A feeling of safety seeps in.

[greatestgift]

It's like anti-blight. It almost doesn't hurt to open her groundsense, if she stands close enough.

She makes another one and sticks it in her pocket. Then two more. Just in case she's eaten by another giant snake with a mirror for a face.

[aestrix]

The campfires are perfectly happy to burn without heat or fear of catching, in her pocket.

[greatestgift]

Of course they are.

This blighted place...

She sighs and goes to consult Dylan again.

"What are all the ingredients of a bed?"

[aestrix]

"In order to make a bed, bring fifteen wood and five silk to a sawmill."

[greatestgift]

"How do I get silk?"

[aestrix]

"You can craft silk with seven cobwebs at a loom."

[greatestgift]

"How do I get a loom," she sighs.

[aestrix]

"You make a loom with twelve wood at a sawmill."

[greatestgift]

"Ugh."

She leaves Dylan in his tiny house and goes looking for cobwebs. Of course cobwebs come in whole numbers here. They probably consolidate into a cute little web of string or something.

[aestrix]

Probably, yeah!

There is a slight problem, though. The sun's setting. It will be night, soon.

[greatestgift]

Monsters come out at night, apparently.

Sable is too fed up with this crazy world to care about that right now. If any monsters show up she will just beat them to death with her stupid wooden sword.

[aestrix]

Well, that's up to her.

There are more caves around, and they have cobwebs in them. Also more pots.

[greatestgift]

She collects cobwebs and pot contents. Smashing things! Hooray!

[aestrix]

Smashing things is fun!



... Groundsense says that there is a walking thing heading towards her. It's human shaped.

[greatestgift]

Human-shaped, but less so than Dylan the horrible person-thing. The horrible person-thing at least seemed to be sort of alive.

She climbs out of her current cave and holds up a torch to get a look at the walking thing.

[aestrix]

It looks rather like a walking corpse. It growls a little, heading towards her with singular determination.

Brains.

[greatestgift]

Sable is frightened but also ticked off.

She attempts to beat it to... extra death... with her stupid wooden sword.

[aestrix]

It is much tougher than the slime. Also less easy to knock away. And stronger. And faster.

... More show up before this one's dead.

[greatestgift]

She will beat them to extra death too.

[aestrix]

Well, the first one becomes extra dead.

And now there are a lot of them. Along with the walking dead, there are flying eyeballs. Flying evil eyeballs.

[greatestgift]

"Blight it all," Sable growls.

Rather than continue fucking around with the sword, she resorts to extreme measures. She has experimented enough with ground-ripping to know how, and that she can do it, and that it really does a number on her already oversensitive ground - but if ever there was a time for it, 'surrounded by walking corpses' is that time. She targes a chunk of the nearest walking corpse's spine just below its head, and an instant later that piece crumbles to grey dust and she is metaphysically splattered with a tiny bit of horrible-walking-corpse essence. Ow.