That Fateful Day (Read after Book 2 Chapter 1) (available to all tiers) - See what happened to Lathani and Kalanthia while Markus was away at the end of Book 1. Read after Book 2 Chapter 1 to avoid spoilers.
The Beginning of the End (available to T2 Builders and T3 Hunters) - The events wh...
2023-09-16 11:03:38 +0000 UTC View PostDiscord server link here!
Side stories here!
Chapter Two: Hope Springs Eternal
Chapter Three: Proof of Worthiness
2023-07-31 13:17:20 +0000 UTC View PostI’m not in the best of positions, leaning back on my hands with a crocodile look-alike half on top of me. It’s heavy but I’ve got the advantage on land. Remembering a nature program at home and hoping that this analogue’s physiology is at least similar, I clamp my arm around its mouth, holding its head to me firmly.
The crocodile writhes but it appears that it’s no more able to open its jaws with me putting pressure on them than an Earth crocodile would be able to. I...
2023-07-23 09:17:24 +0000 UTC View PostCareful. Caaarefuul, I say to myself as I tip the resin bowl. It’s hot, so I’d rather not spill it on my hand, but I do need to transfer the liquid so I can filter it. Right now, it’s full of detritus which won’t do anything to improve the consistency of my pitch. Drop by drop, the molten resin drips from the hole in the side of my bowl into another container. Fortunately, the resin filter bowl was not one of the ones which had exploded.
Actually, for my first time firi...
2023-07-23 09:16:35 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I realise the loud noise was just a pot exploding, I grimace. One item bites the dust. Let’s hope for not too many of those. It sure shows how keyed up I am that a noise the equivalent of a car back-firing is enough to almost give me a heart attack.
Mind you, at least I’m not the only one shocked: all five of the felines - or whatever they are - have also leaped to their feet and are either staring at the source of the noise (the cubs), or looking around suspiciously for any da...
2023-07-23 09:16:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe fire crackles cheerfully as I sit next to it, the tree stump I collected yesterday in front of me, a somewhat sharp flint stone in my hand. Within eyesight, but carefully being kept away from the flames, are the four cubs, happily playing together. I’m keeping an eye to make sure they don’t come anywhere near my fire, and Bastet is sitting on their other side, making sure they don’t suddenly decide to go romping off towards the forest. It’s a strategy that’s been working out pre...
2023-07-23 09:15:40 +0000 UTC View PostI step carefully through the leaf litter in front of the gaping hole. My knife and mace are both in my hands and I’m tense, ready for another monster to come leaping out. Casting a glance around, I frown as I try to piece together what had happened in the instant before the spider-insect attacked.
Despite my increased Intelligence, the whole thing happened so quickly that my memory of the time isn’t at all clear, but there are several clues in the detritus around me. I focus on my m...
2023-07-23 09:13:56 +0000 UTC View PostRegret isn’t helpful right now so I push it away, using the split-seconds I have before it’s upon me to instead try to figure out how to stay alive. By the time it lunges at me once more, I have a basic – and risky – plan of action. Here’s hoping it’s sufficient.
Pulling my arm up to block, I attempt to slip the mace in between its mandibles and trick it to bite down on that, but I’m a fraction too slow. Instead of chewing on wood, its sharp mouth pincers tear into my arm,...
2023-07-23 09:13:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning is a bit of a repeat of yesterday. Food, stoke the fire, and then prepare for the day. This time, I’m intending on going out into the forest rather than digging a pit, so my preparations are a little different.
The main task I need to do in preparation is check my Inventory to minimise the amount of stuff I’m carrying with me, while also making sure that I have enough supplies for any eventuality. It’s complicated by the fact that I have a number of corpses stored...
2023-07-23 09:13:02 +0000 UTC View PostDespite being on tenterhooks for most of the morning, even after getting back to the cave area, nothing bad happens. Well, nothing outside the normal, that is. In the end I don’t make more soup since I suddenly realise that the cubs are going to need water throughout the day and my wok is the only container I have that they can easily drink from. Nothing could persuade me to make repeated trips down to the river just so I can have a bit of hot soup in the morning.
Instead, I just get ...
2023-07-23 09:12:27 +0000 UTC View PostMy mind races quickly. We have one cub AWOL – what are the chances that Trouble is where the shriek came from? I wouldn’t take that bet. At the same time, we have two cubs here that we can’t leave on their own. I make a decision quickly.
“Bastet, you go ahead,” I tell her quietly but urgently. She sends me a reluctant look, glancing back at the other two cubs. “I’ll bring them with me, but the other cub could be in mortal danger right now!” She sends a feeling of grim ag...
2023-07-23 09:08:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe two felines stare each other down for a long moment. Well, I say two felines, but I’m not even sure a nunda counts as one, let alone a raptorcat. Lathani is significantly bigger than the as-yet-unnamed raptorcat cub – she’s about the size of a medium-sized dog where the other cub is probably like a small lion cub in size. We’re all frozen, wondering what will happen. At least, that’s what I’m doing, but no one else is moving either.
Finally, Lathani reaches out a paw tow...
2023-07-23 09:07:59 +0000 UTC View PostI wake up in the dark to something breathing heavily near me. I freeze while my mind races groggily to work out the cause. The fact that it doesn’t move closer while I wake up fully is enough to calm me a little, and I relax completely when I realise exactly what the origin is. I remember having had the bright idea yesterday to Bind a raptorcat and adopt the three cubs under her protection. Letting out a silent breath, I remember the chaos of the previous evening. It was impossible to keep ...
2023-07-23 09:07:33 +0000 UTC View Post“Maybe you should stay here with the cubs until I’ve spoken to Kalanthia,” I say a little hesitantly, casting an apprehensive eye up the slope. I mean, I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to be an issue – Kalanthia’s been OK with Spike after all. However, a raptorcat is a different story from a porcupig and...I’m stalling. I’ve already considered all this; I’m just letting my anxiety paralyse me.
Taking in a deep breath and refusing to look back to Bastet as if...
2023-07-23 09:06:28 +0000 UTC View PostFirst, I need to confirm – or deny – my suspicions. As casually as I can, I turn to Bastet and ask her a question, doing my best to control the feelings and images I inadvertently send down the link.
“What happened to your pack, Bastet? You seemed too powerful to be taken down easily.” Instead of doing a ‘don’t think of pink elephants’ sort of scenario I try to instead send the memory of being chased through forest by their pack, driven to hiding in an underground burrow t...
2023-07-23 09:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostI wipe sweat off my brow, my breath still coming in tired pants. Feeling low in energy, I pull out some cooked meat and munch on it, putting a little of the raw stuff in front of the cubs and offering some more to Bastet. The adult raptorcat accepts it, just as tired from her own efforts.
Casting a last glance around the area, I make sure that everything is as planned. It’s a bit of a rough job, but we’re short on time as it is. Bastet sends me a feeling of warning – the reptilian...
2023-07-23 09:05:31 +0000 UTC View PostThe cubs are so cute it takes all I have not to just rush over, grab, and snuggle them into my neck while making ridiculous noises that would be better found in an anime than real life. They’re little bundles of fluff with supple feet and stubs of wings covered with the softest of down. They have teeth, but they look more like white milk teeth than permanent ones. Or maybe this species go through multiple sets of teeth – what do I know? Either way, they’re much smaller than Bastet’s f...
2023-07-23 09:05:03 +0000 UTC View PostFocusing back on the raptorcat, my distraction having lessened the pressure I was applying, I take a different approach. Honestly, this isn’t all that different from all the other negotiation and mediation I’ve done – when one angle doesn’t work, try a different one.
Do you not wish to live to grow stronger? Death is the end of all growth. I feel the raptorcat pay reluctant attention to the wave of images and emotions I sent it.
Death is natural. Chains are no...
2023-07-23 09:04:38 +0000 UTC View PostWalking through the forest is actually a pleasure. The sun and leaves make a dappled pattern on the layers of last year’s dropped leaves. My Stealth has already levelled up to Beginner four despite not getting much practice over the last few days of digging pits. The moments when it directs my feet to shift slightly so they don’t step on a crunchy leaf or a crackly stick still feel a bit weird, but I’m getting used to it.
I keep my eyes out in all directions both for potential thr...
2023-07-23 09:04:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day I continue with digging my pit. After fetching water, of course. Kalanthia disappears into the forest as soon as I get back, leaving Lathani playing by my feet. I tempt her over to my work area with a bit of nicely roasted meat and then she’s happy to mess around in the dirt for a while. I watch with a bit of amusement as she studiously avoids any bug that looks even remotely like the one that bit her yesterday. Though, like a typical cat, she pretends that she’s not avoiding...
2023-07-23 09:02:56 +0000 UTC View PostRegretfully walking away from Lathani, who makes an annoyed sound when I stop petting her, I head past the cave. Sorting out the firewood in my Inventory, I stack the majority of the branches up near where I’ve started digging my pit, only taking enough of the driest stuff into the cave with me for the night.
A previous day, I’d tested my wok and confirmed that I can actually put it in my Inventory full of liquid and then get it out again still full. Why that works when my Inventory...
2023-07-23 09:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostLooking up at the sky, I try to estimate the time. Having paid close attention to my Energy gain by absorption over the last few days, I’ve concluded that there must be between twenty-seven and twenty-nine hours per day. Settling on twenty-eight as the average – and also easily divisible – number, I decide on a clock face with fourteen hours on it.
Based on the idea that the zenith of the sun is at fourteen o’clock pm, and therefore midnight is fourteen o’clock am, I estimate ...
2023-07-23 08:50:45 +0000 UTC View PostAs usual, I wake with the sun. Testing a small chunk of my potato-replacement, I look forward to the time when I’m able to eat enough of it to actually make my stomach feel like there’s something in it, rather than the emptiness which follows my ‘breakfast’ with it now. I’ve got high hopes for this thing - if today goes well, I’ll be trying a greater quantity tomorrow morning and then, hopefully, after that I’ll be able to try adding it to my stew of pondweed and bird meat. Hone...
2023-07-23 08:44:37 +0000 UTC View PostIn my state of serenity, I start wandering down the hill towards the stream. I look at my surroundings and notice that they are ever so slightly different from before. The world around me has a myriad facets which I’ve never really paid attention to. I can see the links between different things more easily. I admire how the play of light over the earth not far from my feet is causing the insects to move in a certain pattern. I watch as some pellets left by a small animal, probably last nigh...
2023-07-23 08:44:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning, I skip testing the root Spike found a few days ago. I’ve been taking advantage of the more relatively relaxed days to start the whole testing process – and so far with decent results – but considering I was attacked yesterday by the gang of velociraptors when I didn’t even go that far from home, I don’t want to risk being caught again today. It’s never fun fighting on a mostly-empty stomach.
I’ve got more days of crafting ahead of me, so I’ll have time ...
2023-07-23 08:42:18 +0000 UTC View PostI stalk carefully through the forest back towards the tree. The shadows are already lengthening, but mid-afternoon here means there’s still plenty of time until night falls. I took over an hour to reach this area last time, but I wasn’t exactly moving fast, instead meandering while looking for an appropriate branch to turn into an axe-haft. When I came back last time, I wasn’t at my best having just been attacked. So, I figure I should only take half an hour or so to reach it at my curr...
2023-07-23 08:40:24 +0000 UTC View PostKnapping flint is an exercise in frustration, I decide after the fifth time this morning the stone I’m trying to turn into an axe head splits in the wrong place and completely ruins my progress. On the positive side, I have a number of flint shards which will be useful for creating other tools and weapons later. On the other hand, I’ve made no progress towards my goal and it’s already lunch time. I didn’t make any last night either, since I’d been so tired.
On that note, it wa...
2023-07-23 08:39:32 +0000 UTC View PostEyeing the nasty chimera warily while backing up, I wonder how to kill it. I don’t exactly want to get anywhere near its venomous bits – because you can’t tell me that those fangs aren’t just as likely to be venomous as the tail – but my knife and mace are both close-range weapons. Then, once more, I remember that, a) my Inventory still contains a slot full of flint nodules, more stones available on the floor as well, and, b) I also have that branch I picked up for my axe w...
2023-07-23 08:37:24 +0000 UTC View PostI warned you, Binder, she snarls in my head, her telepathic voice matching the audible sounds she’s still making.
“What?” I choke out, completely confused. Warned me about what? What have I done wrong?
I warned you not to try to bind my cub! My scrambled mind tries to make sense of her words. She’s calling me Binder...that’s something related to my Tamer Class. Does she think I’m trying to Dominate Lathani? No…it suddenly makes more sense. Kalanthia...
2023-07-23 08:36:46 +0000 UTC View Post