a multiplayer game of parenting and civilization building
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"I'm a nomad" my mother told me. She was strong; the first thing I witnessed upon birth was her hunting a wolf with a bow (which she managed to do whilst also juggling feeding me).
The area she had birthed me in was - fortanately for the both of us - ripe with berry bushes. There was even a little milkweed, allowing her to craft the thread needed to turn that dead wolf into a kick-ass hat - which she did, and then gifted her existing hat to me.
"You must grow up strong," she said when I came of age. "You will be my only surviving child."
She wandered east and I followed, there she whipped up a basket from the reeds.
"Fill this with berries," she told me. "Go south, you will find a village."
"Good" I said. Followed by: "Mom", "Thnk", and then "You" (young children can only type a few letters at a time), and then we parted ways.
Mother seemed to know her stuff, so south I went. I resolved to become strong, just as she had been, just as she had wished me to be.
The first thing I saw in this world was my mother hunting a wolf. I decided I would make her proud... by taking down a bear.
It was a long trek through rough, barren terrain. But mother had pepared me well, and the berries lasted until I came upon greener pastures.
There were a few small farming settlements around here, but the fields were devoid of crops and there were no people. Apparently my mother had had the right idea becoming a nomad; whatever 'village' she was referring to when she told me to go south had evidently wiped itself out.
I was still nude apart from the hat my mother had given me, but luckily one of the villagers had left behind a Mouflon Hide that I clothed myself with.
I tried to replenish the crops here as best I could for the benefit of future travellers, but they had only a bowl and no waterskins, and the nearest pond was too far for me to get the farm going again without starving myself first.
I decided instead to continue living as a nomad, hoping to find the resources to create a bow and some arrows so I could go on my bear-hunt.
I headed east from there, and came upon another small, abandoned settlement. Here I found a bow, but no arrows. I spent a few years here trying to gather the resources needed for arrows, but there was no Milkweed for miles around. No milkweed means to thread, and no thread means no arrows. Eventually I left the settlement behind and continued east.
After many miles I found yet another small abandoned settlement. Whoever lived here before had apparently been working on some arrows - just what I needed! - but had been unable to finish them. Also: there was no bow here, and I'd had to leave the other one behind to carry food!
A 'Featherless arrow shaft' and a handful of 'Flint arrowhead's lay next to a small carrot patch. I set up a home marker here and began scouring the area for the ingredients needed to complete the project.
It took almost 20 years, but I finally gathered enough resources (precious Milkweed!) to craft a bow and three arrows.
The hunt was on.
I headed directly north of my settlement with a basket of arrows and found a bear cave in the wilderness. I left the basket nearby, made the trip back south, and returned with the bow.
Sheepishly, I approached the bear cave and gave it a poke. There was loud growl, and I immediately put some distance between myself and the frenzied ball of teeth and claws that was no-doubt about to emerge...
Nothing. I poked the cave again.
This time the bear DID come out, and immediately began giving chase. I kept my distance and waited for an opening. I fired. A direct hit!
...but the bear did not slow down, and now it was standing between my and my arrow supply...
I ducked and weaved around the bear, and got back to my arrows. Arrow no.2 found its mark in the bear's hide, but still it showed no sign of relenting.
Only one arrow left now... unless I wanted to try plucking one out of an enraged bear (which I did not, thank you very much).
I circled around my prey and loosed the final shot. This time, the bear did NOT react with cold indifference. Instead, it began to slowly crawl away from me, and collapsed a few moments later.
I did it, Ma! I had become Strong.
I was 35 years old now, and with my quest fulfilled I wondered how I would spend my remaining years. I had aquired a handfull of milkweed seeds in the process of crafting my bow and arrow, so - remembering my ownI decided to continue my journey east with as many milkweed seeds as I could carry (three, in a basket), and gift them to the first populated village I found.
I walked for many miles, but never found anything larger than a 1 or 2 person camp, or any other people.
After a while I came upon some more wild milkweed plants near some fertile soil. I picked those that were fruiting, emptied my basket and used the fertile soil to create a few cultivated rows to plant the seeds in.
Counting the wild milkweed with that which I had planted, it totalled 15 milkweed plants in the immediate area - a VERY pleasant surprise for the next person to travel this way..!
I kept this up for my remaining years, picking any fruiting milkweed I saw, carrying the seeds in my basket and re-planting them whenever I found fertile soil.
I never met another human, but I left a trail of milkweed that stretched for miles.
When I was 54 years old, a passing wolf - perhaps smelling the blood of it's kin on my mother's old hat that I still wore - ate me. Circle of life!
So head East, my friends! Eventually you will come upon the body of a bear with a bow and three arrows still laying next to it. Keep going - you're halfway there. Eventually you will begin to stumble upon neatly arranged plots of Milkweed, and you will know you have found the Promised Land.
https://i.imgur.com/k1Io1ln.png
https://i.imgur.com/XppIitx.png
Last edited by Rrajigar (2018-03-06 05:27:37)
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