Part 1 - Setting Traps

 

Waking up early, Urist, Rork, and Rat headed out together with the traps in tow to the game trails. The squirrel traps were pretty easy to set up; setting the logs on the side of trees with some bait was as hassle-free as it would be for the squirrels to be caught.

The hare traps were placed near burrows set with carrots pulled up from the ground. For the deer, they traveled a bit to where Urist had spotted the beast and found some fresh deer droppings. They found a deer trail nearby not long after. Doing a little search around the area, Urist found a good branch to set up a snare for their first round of trapping. 

Now it was time to head home and make preparations to make a smoke stand in case they did catch something.

The only thing Urist lamented on was the fact that they didn’t have the proper supplies to tan the hides with their lack of salt. If they wanted to do it ‘Indian’ style, they were also lacking the eggs so they couldn’t use the brain meat in processing it. Another hurdle was that they didn’t have anything large enough to store the leather in for the brain method. Though it didn’t matter as they didn’t have the supplies in the first place.

The best method he could think of to use the hide effectively would be to turn it into hide glue which is like the elder brother of duct tape. Although it wouldn’t be good when the weather’s wet, any wood projects they had such as arrows or anything that comprises of wood that needed to be held together would be immensely helpful. 

With every part playing a role in his formulated plan, it was time to start making the smoke stand.

Entering the camp, Urist gathered the cut-down bamboo and sliced them into quarter strips. He gathered next some of the rope and three large bamboo pieces. Making a teepee-like structure and making sure the rope holding it together was stable, he then made three stacked platforms in the middle, a half-foot away from each other.

The smoke stand will serve as the venue where the meat would sit on the stacked platforms, which would be an easy way to smoke any meat they got. Even without salt, they could still store meat inside the cave with ease, allowing them to have at least some emergency rations besides the shrinking pre-packaged food mound. 

He got some help from Uria who was bored watching the fire boil water. By now with their system in place, they weren't hurting for water anymore and stored a good amount away in the back of the cave sitting on a stand made of bamboo that dwarfs on guard duty made to pass the time.

After all of that, Urist started digging a pit and asked for the dwarfs that were idle to gather some fist-sized stones. If they truly caught some big game like a deer, he wanted to eat some steamed legs. Just thinking about savoring those large legs of meat made his mouth water. It took him a few hours to get everything done. Though he can’t be bothered to stay put; He figured getting some bowls done would be more productive than lazing around.

At home, only the Survival, Bamboo, and Rope making team stayed behind. The Fishing team made sure to keep fishing and gather any nearby clams under Urist’s request. While the Medicine team headed out to explore the north of their home base, on the opposite way where they headed the other day.

Gathering

Uroa and Briana, equipped with straw baskets over their shoulders held by some rope, walked through the forest with their books on their hands. For weapons, Uroa carried the bronze sword and for Briana, a pair of stone knives.

They walked through the forest with ease with their small stature but not without caution. They were in a foreign environment after all. Despite being unfamiliar thanks to their previous trips through the forest, they moved somewhat quickly now. They were collecting herbs along the way and trying to spot new food sources they could eat.

Remembering their boss mutter about how bland the tasty foods was bewildered them. How could these magical ‘corn dogs’ taste like crap? And what were these things called lemon and how it could make the fish taste even better? They truly didn’t understand. Although it was familiar in a sense.

Nonetheless, they wished to find these things called ‘spices’ that the boss passionately talked about with such exuberance around the fire. Therefore, they read through the books while resting back at home and happened to chance upon the spice section.

It talked about things called ‘Sweet Onions’, ‘Woozoo Flowers’ that is said to give off a tangy flavor, and last, something called ‘Black Pepper’. When they told their boss about their discovery, his eyes instantly went bloodshot and grabbed them by the arms and stared them in the eyes shocking them.

He spoke in the most flustered voice they ever heard, “Tomorrow you two must go out and search for these plants and mark where they grow and bring me some of them to see! These items are very important for our taste buds to live on!” He gabled maddeningly.

The two could only nod their heads seriously and take on this mission their leader had given them. If it was really important as he said then they must carry it out at all costs and with haste! They walked along the forest for hours, they made sure to mark the path back on the bark of trees’ pointing in the direction of the river in case they got lost.

Unfortunately, they only managed to find the Woozoo flowers in their time searching through the forest. They would keep searching for the other two but they ran out of water in their bamboo water bottles and they were getting tired. They knew how those were important but they also knew their worth back in the camp. It wouldn’t do good for the tribe to suddenly lose members, so they came upon the decision of heading back.

“Come on Uroa. Let’s head back to camp. My feet are sore from all the walking we’ve been doing. Let's just mark this tree nearby for the Woozoo Flowers and head to the beach and make another mark.”

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Uria nodded her head in agreement, “Alright, let’s head back. We got enough herbs and Woozoo to say it was a good harvest!”

With both girls in agreement, the two-headed off home to show off the spoils they earned.

 

Part - 2 - Woozoo Flower Petals

 

The time was midday when the medical team returned to camp. They greeted everyone upon their return and headed into the cave to put their herbs into containers to let them dry for later use.

Then the two went to report to Urist who just finished up a bowl. Who was proceeding to rub sand within it with a stick to smooth the insides. While doing this, Urist was mumbling to himself about black pepper when he heard footsteps approach. Curious, he looked up to see the girls walking towards him. His eyes naturally drifted down towards their baskets and his mouth began to water.  

“Did you find them?”

Briana replied with a shake of her head. She reached into her basket and pulled out a handful of flowers, the color of the petals were a rich brown with a white running down the middle. Urist gave the petals a sniff, the smell of oranges and lemons in a mixed fragrance wafted through his nostrils.

“Sorry boss. These were the only things we could find.” she sighed defeatedly.

Grabbing a petal from Briana’s hand, Urist put one in his mouth to taste the flavor. As soon as the petal settled on his tongue, the flavor exploded his taste buds away. The taste was hard to describe; it was like a mix of different fruits he could best describe as a holy union between apples, oranges, grapes, mangos, and pineapples!

Urist was in utter bliss savoring the taste, At first, I was a little disappointed in them not finding the ingredients, but this gem more than makes up for it.

With these flowers, they could make some tea that tastes like juice! He was so moved by the thought that he started shedding tears of joy, ‘Finally, something to wash away the dreaded taste of corndog out of my mouth.‘

The boss' sudden outburst sent Uroa and Briana knowing not what to do. ‘Were the petals that bad to eat?’

‘Did the petals cause some unknown bodily reaction?”

As the girls worried with equal parts worry and curiosity, Urist woke up from his stupor and grabbed Briana and Uroa by their shoulders and announced with glee. “Let’s make tea!”

“Okay?”

“What is tea?”

The two girls replied with bewilderment wondering why their boss was so worked upon these petals. Urist asked and received the basket full of flower petals then put in two cups of petals inside the pot that just got a change of water.

He figured it was a good ratio to experiment on this batch since they had gotten a good amount of water stored up already. The dwarfs, watching their boss do a strange thing, came over to watch more closely his madness at play knowing whatever he did usually have some purpose.

Watching the water filled with woozoo petals start to boil, the dwarfs watched on as the once clear water shifted into an amber hue as a tangy aroma filled the air around them. Whoever got a whiff of the scent started to drool uncontrollably.

Urist started scooping out the petals when the tea had finished boiling with a wooden ladle. A strainer would’ve been better but with all the clothes he had been using for other projects, this was a better method.

Looking over at the dwarf's eyes that had turned wolfish from the scent made Urist awkwardly smile. He didn’t put on airs and started to pour everyone at camp a cup then one for himself.

Before giving them the drink though, he warned them, “Remember this is very hot so blow on it for a bit then drink it”

Blowing on the tea for a minute, Urist then eagerly took his first sip and his suspicions were correct. It was delicious, very delicious. It didn’t have any of the pulp of juice but the taste was so similar he could hardly believe it.

Suddenly, an idea sprouted from his head. An ambition so great that it called to him from his previous life, ‘I want to taste some good booze.’

Urist knew that petals wouldn’t be a good fit to make booze. He knew on a basic level something like hops, potatoes, or barley was used to make booze. Although he knew this, much to his regret, he never learned how to make alcohol from scratch. Given he was a nature expert, not a booze-making expert. He could only dream of it for now and be content that he had finally found something tasty to drink. The dwarfs around him were greedily sipping the tea in small amounts savoring the flavor the best they could.

Knowing it would be in poor taste if the dwarfs working outside the cave didn’t get a taste of the tea, he decided to bottle up the rest and deliver the tea to them. He could also kill two birds with one stone if he had them come over with him to check the traps to make sure they were still good and if they caught anything.

Filling up a tube of bamboo, Urist headed out of the camp where the dwarfs were disheartened after finishing their one cup of bamboo, they wanted more! Seeing their pitiful expressions as he headed out of camp, Urist laughed, “Haha! Don’t worry guys we still got a lot of flower petals. We can make some more tea after dinner today so work hard!”

"“““““OHHHHHHHHH!!!”””””"

Everyone cheered together exuberantly and got to work with even more passion than before. 

Urist headed over to the river’s shore where the bare-chested, muscular Rork and Rat were pulling in one of the bamboo traps catching three fish.

They would usually pull in traps later in the day to get more fish for dinner but with the smoke rack now set up, Urist decided to smoke some fish for later food supplies. They would be saved in green leaves inside the wooden bowls they made and kept deep inside the cave in a dry area.

Walking over to the two chiseled dwarfs showing off their bountiful muscles made Urist inwardly cry inside.

‘Why is life so cruel? Why can’t I have a rocking body? What did I do in my past life to deserve this?’

As he lamented his lack of muscles, Rork noticed him and gave off a huge smile waving his hand, “Boss! What's up?”

“Do you need anything?”

Seeing how happy these two dwarfs were and how much respect they gave him, making it hard for him to hate them by having a better body definition. With a smile, Urist pulled out two bamboo cups, “Come here guys we made something pretty good in camp. I thought you’d want a taste so I came over. It’s called Woozoo Flower Tea.”

 

Part 3 - Squirrel Brain Meatballs

 

Rork, Rat, and Urist headed back into the brushwork afterward looking at wild animal trails while watching their surroundings. The time was close to when they decided to check the squirrel traps to see if they caught anything. The only thing Urist was displeased about was the unusually stoic Rork and Rat had their heads in the clouds dreaming over one thing.

Woozoo Tea!

The aroma and tang of the tea had entranced them somewhat fiercely. It took a while for Urist to snap the two hardy dwarfs out of their stupor full of fantasies. Soon through the three reached the field of where they set up the squirrel traps and started checking the cords to see how many they captured.

It wasn’t a surprise to Urist that some of these traps had caught some squirrels. These little ones were lazy creatures so they ran right up the trapped log hanging themselves. Just from a glance, they had gotten three squirrels with ease. And judging by how many were still jumping around the trees, they could harvest this area for quite a while before they had to stop and let the population bounce back.

Removing the squirrels and resetting the traps deciding to check them once more in the afternoon. In good spirits, Urist asked Rat to head back to camp and start preparing the squirrels with Uria’s help reading through Survival Preparing book.  

With that settled, Urist and Rork headed off to where they had set up the deer traps to see if they caught anything. Unfortunately, none of the traps got triggered so they headed over to check the hare traps. By good fortune, they caught a hare in one of their traps, it was the color brown with beady black eyes and thin-haired for the season.

Urist smiled and picked up the trap with the hare inside and headed back home. He hoped one day to make a hare farm and have a steady supply of hares to eat. If they could gather around 20 males and females they could keep the gene pool healthy and reduce hereditary disease.

Heading back to home Urist deposited the hare into its new home and checked on how the dissection of the squirrels went. Since it was their first time the hide of the first squirrel turned into shreds and the meat ruined.

Fortunately, Uria and Rat grew more competent on their second try and didn’t ruin the meat wasn’t that terrible and the hide was serviceable. Their third try showed amazing progress though after learning from their mistakes as the hide and meat turned out to be in good condition.

From the hides, 2 and 3 were useable in making hide glue so Urist got to work. Grabbing some bamboo Urist headed off to the river. As he knew before making hide glue the first step was to soak the hide in cold water for a few days.

So the best idea would be to use rocks to hold the hides in place and use the bamboo to mark the area where he placed them. When finished setting up the soak Urist turned his focus to the dwarfs huddled around the cage that held the hare with curiosity.

Seeing how scared the hare was acting Urist got some of the carrots they gathered and placed them inside the pen. He shooed the dwarfs away to allow the hare some space, heaven forbid the little creature having a heart attack.

Watching the little creature nibble the carrots cutely made Ursit smile warmly, ‘Ah get fat quickly and have many babies.'

Unfortunately for the hare, his thoughts weren't kind-hearted in thinking about keeping this hare as a pet. They needed to eat and as long as they fed these hares they’d have a steady source of meat.

He only hoped they would find more in the coming days to get a good supply of them. With wishful thoughts, he walked over to the smoking rack to watch the squirrel meat cooking.  He knew it would be a tiring process of learning how to correctly smoke meat on an open fire. Make the fire too big and it’ll cook regularly, to small and the smoke would fully dry it. 

It would be better if we just had a smokehouse, sighed Urist. 

To make such a building required a few things such as a place to feed the fire container and allow the smoke to flow through the pipe and into the building and allow some airflow. Of course, such a building would take a lot of manpower to build making the idea a pipe dream like booze.

Besides we don’t need it right now. We are only smoking some of the food caught today while the rest will be turned into a soup for eating. 

Thinking about dinner today got Urist mouth-watering. Dinner would consist of minced squirrel brain matter meatballs; fish soup seasoned with woozoo flower to give it a tangy flavor and a side of boiled snails.

Even though snails were worth a small amount of nutrition, they were very plentiful along the shore. From science class, he had once he remembered from his teacher that the shells held Calcium carbonate if ground up they could use it in a few ways.

Calcium carbonate is another form of limestone and could be made into agricultural lime by milling and be used to help raise the PH level in the soil. It was also would provide a great source of nutrients for the plant and improves the uptake of major plants nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium hidden away in the soil or so what his teacher said.

The power of agricultural lime must not be underestimated once said his teacher, such was the case for Brazil in their Green Revolution. The soil in the 1960s was too acidic and poor in nutrients to farm in raise cattle, however into the 1960’s vast amounts of agricultural lime was poured into the fields for years the amount being 14-16 million tons a year into the fields all the way into the 1990s.

Then it increased once again to 25 million tonnes in 2003 and 2004. With so much of the stuff in the soil now Brazil soil became a powerhouse becoming the second-biggest soybean exporter in the world and thanks to all the calcium in the soil another factor of how monstrous the soil became Brazil became the biggest exporter of beef and poultry.

One should not underestimate such a magical ingredient of science his teacher said before sending him into the hall for doodling in his notebook. Urist never thought such a humiliating memory would serve him with useful information. So before eating, he asked everyone to pick out the shells after eating and to place them in a wooden bowl.

Finished eating and doing tasks around the base Urist figured it was time to head out one more time to check the traps and see if they caught anything. Rork and Rat although they didn’t need to decide to tag along in case Urist needed the muscle.

 

Part 4 - Goals

 

Checking the traps one last time they acquire another hare and a few more squirrels, unfortunately, still no deer. They headed back to the cave and put the new hare inside the shack they made, skinned the squirrels and fish they caught before late afternoon and started settling down do some tasks around the home.

Rork and Rat helped out Ormila and Urmom by weaving new baskets and rope. Lun and Ariel crafting forks and spoons out of some bamboo from the stockpile inside the back of the cave.

Uroa and Briana were setting up their plants to dry, they hoped to make some powders out of them. They then started sanding the bottom of wooden bowls using rocks and cloth to smooth them out.

Uria and Urist were together working on a new item. Uria pecking shale into arrowhead shapes while Urist was working on a four-foot large stick. He decided to chop it down while walking back to as it was the perfect material to make a bow.

They had food and water manage why not make a bow? As the thoughts crossed his mind, his legs started he retrieved the axe and cut down the tree.

As he expected from the young tree the strength and flexibility well met his standards. Although he didn’t know what kind of tree it was a high-class material. He asked Uria to help him make arrowheads from shale after showing her how to make them. Then he got to work and cut the wood down the middle making two halves.

Ripping off the bark Urist noticed that the wood was a gray color which surprised him, still, he got to work with his stone tools and started chipping away at the wood. He had a few design choices to go on to remember, keeping the limbs a good thickness and making the handle around five inches.

At the ends, he started tapering the backends and the ends to allow the bow to bend better bend. He switched from stone tool to stone tool chipping and smoothing were needed along the limbs. When he was satisfied he moved onto the handle to start shaping it, using the stone tools he slowly but surely managed to make the handle fit well in the palm of his hand.

Next, he went to the end of the limbs and made notches on both sides to allow the rope to set inside. When everything was all said and done it was very late in the day and the moon was just peeking out of the horizon.

Urist looked over when he finished the body of the bow to see next to Uria was a pile of arrowheads that were sharp to the touch. As expected of a dwarf her craftsmanship had been done well, when they got some shafts and fletching they could make great primitive arrows. 

What surprised Urist though came from himself making a bow from scratch. In his last life, he had seen many bow designs but could never make one that didn’t break on firing.

Should I think it as a blessing that I was given a dwarf body? But what about my life before this one? Does that say my life from before was cursed to never create?

While he swam with his thoughts everyone had called it a day and now sat to brag and make merry before heading to sleep. Urist and Uria got up from their project and decided to join their fellow dwarfs in drinking some woozoo tea that Uroa whipped up.

By no means could it substitute booze but for now it was enough to slate his taste buds. Drinking from his bamboo cup Urist brain was working on what to do next. He figured it was high time they finally decided to make beds in the cave tomorrow, his ass was sore from sleeping on the hard ground.

Tomorrow in the morning he would hand over the responsibility in checking the traps to Rork and Rat to focus on making finish making the short bow by the afternoon. He also wanted to build a greenery roof over the fire so in case it rained the fire would be protected from the elements.

And then--

“Hey Boss what are you thinking about?”, Rat patted Urist on the back with a smile making merry of the good time they were having.

Urist woken from his thoughts gave Rat returned the smile in kind, “I was just trying to remember how long the meat must say being smoked. If I remember right you only one day, but I heard it’s best to wait two days to make sure the meat is fully cooked. Since we are going to be smoking a lot I was thinking of if we could make a smokehouse thinking of how we could do it.”

Urist looked around to see everyone's expressions only to see them all confused about what a smokehouse exactly was. With a slight sigh, Urist started explaining and motioning with his hands, “A smokehouse is made out of bricks and mortar simple as that with a connection to fire to allow smoke in. The main problems are making a kiln, and getting enough clay and limestone.”

“What’s a kiln?”

“What’s clay?”

“What’s limestone?”

Bombarded with questions from the dwarfs Urist give a slight sigh and smiled explaining each of the subjects one by one, “The Kiln will be used to fire the clay bricks which we’ll find the clay along the river. As for the limestone we need to find more shells or limestone rocks then heat them the limestone in the kiln to make quicklime. Then taking the quicklime we mix water to make putty and then we add sand to the mixture at about double the amount of quicklime which will allow us to make mortar.

With the number of materials we have on hand as long as we get enough lime we’ll be fine, the main problem is that I don’t know how to make a Kiln. As I never bothered to learn about it much, as such until we can figure out how to make one it’s a pipe dream.”

“Hey, boss I have another question!”

“Me too! Me too!”

And so for a little while, the dwarfs kept asking Urist about the smokehouse to the point Urist had to run away saying he felt tired and wanted to sleep. Truly, he was tried after doing so much today and he felt fulfilled at the hard day's work.

Before heading off to dreamland he checked the clock in his head to see how much time was left on the countdown.

Countdown

Time: 2 Days 2 hours 47 minutes until Market opens

Points Gained: 4621

‘Hmm only two more days now, I wonder what's in store. I hope we can catch a dear tomorrow… I want some tenderloins…’