The Little Lenser that Could

VoiceofTime · 2018-10-27 03:52:36

I am born in a savannah, with my mother running and leaving me behind for a moment despite the small cries for help. I understand why, though, once I follow her with determination with my stubby legs, finding some trouble getting footing as I waddle about through the yellow grasses.

She comes back for me then, seeing that i'm intent on living this life, and then finally explains it.

She's lost.

Or at least, she plays off that she is. After living my life, I understand that she was probably trying to run away from the City given the situation it's in but, that's for later.

What's important now is that she makes a new 'home', right in the midsts of these tall trees in the midst of a muddy swamp. Mother tells me to stay warm near this strange stick that she put in the ground, and despite the discomfort I feel in her leaving me behind, I listen as she's well... the only one I have out here.

I quickly learn that my gut feeling was right, as a hiss and rattle nearby shakes me and makes me all too ready to run away and let this be the end. Fight or flight, and i was all too eager to choose flight... until that prior determination to live on returned. I must live on, even if the world (and my mother's sense of direction...) is dangerous! So I steel myself, and I cry out what I can manage in baby babbles, hoping that my mother will return and bring me away from the danger creeping at the edge of the looming trees.

'S - N - A - K - E'

She's still gone, so I try again

'S - N - A - K - E'

The situation seems bleak, my stomach begins growling and I continue to cry in anticipation that she'll return, to embrace me in the comfort of her... questionably loving arms and save me from my aggressor. She finally does on my last cry... and then says something i'll never forget. "Yeah, it's friendly. Play with it." Clearly... clearly she doesn't want me around. But, I made it this far, and she's found the remains of a camp for us to stay in. Then, I finally get my name: Noel, Noel Lenser.

I'm pleased with this, thanking her with a happy smile as she brings me to the camp. It's very, very small... and very poorly planned as I can tell with my aging. Once i'm free of her arms, I wander around and see what there is to offer in the camp. The farm is growing in the opposite direction of the water... not good. The only berries around don't have soil to revitalize them should they need it, and judging by the berries left and my growing belly, I know that this won't last long. WE won't last long. I have to work quickly now to ensure our survival, I have to prove to mom that it was worth keeping me around. I run back and forth, eating to stay alive but not be full and taking stock of what's around. Basket... ponds! The ponds I found... eggs, there were eggs! I run off with the basket, filling it with eggs and bringing it back to the camp. I look around again, shoving a gooseberry in my mouth as I think on how to cook them. There's plates, but I can't do that. The eggs need to be cooked before they go on a plate, I don't want to eat a gross gooey uncooked yolk! Maybe... maybe if I find a stone flat enough, put it on some heat... but I have to find that stone first. I speed off, looking for a gooseberry to take for the road and did a large circle to not lose the camp. Going a bit farther than what I hoped to, I finally see it, and I pick up that rock and bring it home as fast as possible.

Good, we can get started now.

I run around, getting the materials for a fire, instinct kicking in as I pick the juniper and grab the fire bow-drill from the ground and bring them to a shaft near a maple tree. Soon, a flame is born and I patiently wait for it to die just as quickly. While I stare into the low flames I try to remember where the other eggs are so I can get them quickly and keep making food for my mother and I. The flames die, and I shove the rock on and get cooking as fast as I can go. Omelets will make us thrive! ...For now at least. In between cooking I make runs for more eggs, continuing at a steady pace until they are gone. Years go by, continuing to do whatever else is possible for me, firing plates, moving soil, and looking for what I need to make a hoe so I can restart the farm. While I pick a branch from another maple tree, my mother shows up holding my baby brother, Aquarius. A brother! I wasn't aware that I had any siblings, and I soon find that I have a baby sister as well as I near the berry bushes for a quick snack. I'm all too late however, and she drops to the ground before me. She was the only female, so our line will end here unfortunately.

But, that doesn't deter me from trying to live on regardless. We continue to do what we can, my baby brother showing how talented he is by getting to work on a forge with haste as I personally have no idea in how to do such a feat. It was a miracle my mother had him, honestly. I wander again in my young adulthood, and my mother passes by me, mentioning a city nearby that we can steal from should we need materials. I'm not personally too keen on stealing, but the mention of a city interests me. After all... wasn't mother lost? Hm...

I continue wandering on from there, remembering what she said and looking for more to create for our camp. Suddenly, I run into a clothed girl, who seems surprised by me just as much as I am with her. Though, that might be because of my indecency, but I can't help that now can I? We greet briefly, and then she goes off again, but with notable purpose. I'd be lying if I said that didn't pique some interest, so I follow her around. Her face reminds me of mom... something seems off here. I continue to stalk on behind her through the badlands, savannah, desert, whatever it takes to see where she goes. A part of me thinks I shouldn't continue on, that it might make her suspicious of me and she might get me killed as a result. After all, an unfamiliar face wandering around butt-naked in the wilds was something to be hesitant of, but curiosity compels me to seek this through, just as my determination early on got me this far.

And then I find it, I find home.

It... it was a mess, and I was incredibly awkward for the first few years. I lurked around the berry bushes into my adult years, gooseberries sustaining me as I listened in on what was going on and scouting to find a role that would fit me. It makes sense now, why mother left. Soil is sparse, but thankfully a very helpful ginger girl brings baskets of them in by the cart-load. I did what was easiest for now, and I began fertilizing and watering the berries I was mooching off of. It was only fair, after all. I see the my mother wander in and out from time to time as well, though her last journey through was ironic and sad at the same time.

She was bit by a rattlesnake, the same fate she wished upon me prior.

Poetic justice in a way, but at the same time i'm incredibly grateful that she allowed me to live this long. She struggles up to me to say her final words, a weak "Son" before she is gone. My little brother arrives shortly after, and we both remorse about the loss while I manage a joke to try and lighten the move.

"I can't believe she lost this place."

For the rest of our lives, Aquarius and I try to mend a breaking town. We restart production of plates and pies, a practice abandoned and desperately needed as a second famine hits the town. Other hands quickly come in to help as much as possible, quiet but helpful women lending hands with production and resources. I wander back and forth as my years finally start to wear me down, bringing wheat, making flour, flour into dough, dough into crusts, crusts into pies. My brother brings me back a backpack at some point after promising it what feels like only minutes before, the only personal item I acquire in this life. It's nice, and it keeps my back warm at least. I don't end up using it anyway, but it's the thought that counts.

My last minutes on this earth are spent reminding people the importance of the bakery, and I die with a final request:

"Tell my brother I said bye."

With that, and one of my warm mutton pies in my hand and the backpack made by my little brother, I collapse and leave this Earth in the place I hoped to save, dead in the town's bakery.

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Thank you to Maggie (Mother), Aquarius (Lil Broski), and whichever fourth cousin I followed to the town (Sunnie or Beauty) for making this life one of my most memorable so far! I've only been playing the game for about three days now, so having an experience like this was a very sharp contrast from the easy farm lives I normally live that was super appreciated! It got me thinking very quickly which i'm not used to in this game, but hell was it fun!

Hope to have more fun experiences like this one <3

sarannwrap · 2018-10-27 04:00:28

Beautiful story! Welcome to the game. You will have many more stories. This game is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time.
And awesome thing is, some of your family will see these posts sometimes It's really fun and interesting for them to explain their thought processes in decisions/complain about the griefers that killed your line/ compliment each other on heroic acts. Some playthroughs are super rewarding but of course others leave you thinking "wtf was that"? ... It sounds like yours was a bit of both!

VoiceofTime · 2018-10-27 04:14:08

sarannwrap wrote:

Beautiful story! Welcome to the game. You will have many more stories. This game is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time.
And awesome thing is, some of your family will see these posts sometimes It's really fun and interesting for them to explain their thought processes in decisions/complain about the griefers that killed your line/ compliment each other on heroic acts. Some playthroughs are super rewarding but of course others leave you thinking "wtf was that"? ... It sounds like yours was a bit of both!

Ahhh, thank you Q w Q ! This was a bit of a rush because I wanted to get everything down fresh off of my mind, hopefully i'll bring more fun stories should I run into another interesting situation again ^~^

And yeah, i'm super curious about if anyone from my line sees this! Especially when it comes to that killing bit because, looking through my lineage, it looks like people around my generation were killing each other, which I was afraid of after seeing two people just nonchalantly holding knives near the kiln for a bit while I was moseying on by to nab up some more plates ; v ;

It was definitely a mix experience though xD A total expectation shift, from me thinking about how i'm going to leave behind the best camp possible for a future Eve to being safe and cozy for a bit before going back into full gear cooking mode all over again :"3 It's nuts being so new to the game and yet your life has such a big importance / impact all the same xD Like, the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you're just holding a mutton going 'How tf do I make this into a pie right now 0 _ 0 ;;;' (Which is something I went through once we ran out of rabbits)

Tysm for the welcome and again, I can't wait to live out many more lives and experiences here <3

sarannwrap · 2018-10-27 04:56:29

VoiceofTime wrote:

sarannwrap wrote:
Beautiful story! Welcome to the game. You will have many more stories. This game is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time.
And awesome thing is, some of your family will see these posts sometimes It's really fun and interesting for them to explain their thought processes in decisions/complain about the griefers that killed your line/ compliment each other on heroic acts. Some playthroughs are super rewarding but of course others leave you thinking "wtf was that"? ... It sounds like yours was a bit of both!
Ahhh, thank you Q w Q ! This was a bit of a rush because I wanted to get everything down fresh off of my mind, hopefully i'll bring more fun stories should I run into another interesting situation again ^~^
And yeah, i'm super curious about if anyone from my line sees this! Especially when it comes to that killing bit because, looking through my lineage, it looks like people around my generation were killing each other, which I was afraid of after seeing two people just nonchalantly holding knives near the kiln for a bit while I was moseying on by to nab up some more plates ; v ;
It was definitely a mix experience though xD A total expectation shift, from me thinking about how i'm going to leave behind the best camp possible for a future Eve to being safe and cozy for a bit before going back into full gear cooking mode all over again :"3 It's nuts being so new to the game and yet your life has such a big importance / impact all the same xD Like, the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you're just holding a mutton going 'How tf do I make this into a pie right now 0 _ 0 ;;;' (Which is something I went through once we ran out of rabbits)
Tysm for the welcome and again, I can't wait to live out many more lives and experiences here <3

Believe me if you are capable of making pie already you are doing VERY well for three days. Chances are your townsfolk were more "experienced" and you were showing them up. XD Rule of thumb, keep the farms alive, because without them you can do NOTHING. Literally. Compost? No. Feeding sheep? No. Getting sheep? No. Making advanced food? No. Without farms a civilization will die. Esp since the kiddos and elders are encouraged to feast on berries. No berries, no kiddos. No kiddos, no new gens. If you are an adult female make your kids take on the farms until older because you have more bars so you have time to do more advanced things, while the kiddos are relying on farm food anyways so might as well contribute. It's a very easy formula once you think, but sadly you seem a MUCH faster learner than most. XD

sarannwrap · 2018-10-27 05:04:36

Alsoooo beware of pork, if you try to put it into pie it will not work (looks the same as mutton) and if a griefer puts pork in a bowl it is likely no one will touch that bowl for many many gens since pork tacos are incredibly annoying to make and are not worth the payoff at all. A sidenote, do not raise pigs as it usually helps griefers and is rarely worth it unless you have some dedicated pork taco maker (seen one? prob not bc it sucks and rewards you with a bowl you could've had already if someone hadn't raised pigs in the first place).

sarannwrap · 2018-10-27 05:30:04

PS you are MUCH more likely to get killed as a female. Griefers tend to want to either make living practically impossible or destroy the family line altogether. If you are a fertile female stay FAR away from people holding bows and arrows running around near you. People with backpacked/aproned knives are usually ok but if you don't trust them stay a space away from them at least and keep your children away too. One time I saw a lady with a knife coming towards me trying to stab me but I moved quickly, then later she was coming towards my young toddler daughter, and she knifed the air RIGHT after I saw her coming and sweeped my daughter into my arms. My daughter didn't even notice someone was about to stab her and I had JUST saved her from death. I took her far from that beeyotch. XP

Last edited by sarannwrap (2018-10-27 05:30:53)

VoiceofTime · 2018-10-27 06:12:41

sarannwrap wrote:

.

Farming is definitely something I try to keep alive if I can :"0! In one of my other posts i mentioned how I was a nutty carrot farmer for a bit (Gluck Dynasty) and I usually try to keep the berry bushes that are around alive because i'm unsure of how many people actually care for the farm at times since other matters are more pressing. So yeah, a LOT of my lives were spent just aggressively shoving soil and water at plants for a majority of the 60 minutes, and then learning how to make compost progressed off of that because we were running low on soil xD (Thankfully those places were developed enough to have sheep)

sarannwrap wrote:

Alsoooo beware of pork, if you try to put it into pie it will not work (looks the same as mutton) and if a griefer puts pork in a bowl it is likely no one will touch that bowl for many many gens since pork tacos are incredibly annoying to make and are not worth the payoff at all. A sidenote, do not raise pigs as it usually helps griefers and is rarely worth it unless you have some dedicated pork taco maker (seen one? prob not bc it sucks and rewards you with a bowl you could've had already if someone hadn't raised pigs in the first place).

I'll definitely keep that in mind! Haven't ran into a town with pigs yet that i've noticed :"0 And the only food that was different from the things i'm used to was burritos that one of my mom's made as our lineage died out... which I promptly placed on her grave afterwards.

sarannwrap wrote:

PS you are MUCH more likely to get killed as a female. Griefers tend to want to either make living practically impossible or destroy the family line altogether. If you are a fertile female stay FAR away from people holding bows and arrows running around near you. People with backpacked/aproned knives are usually ok but if you don't trust them stay a space away from them at least and keep your children away too. One time I saw a lady with a knife coming towards me trying to stab me but I moved quickly, then later she was coming towards my young toddler daughter, and she knifed the air RIGHT after I saw her coming and sweeped my daughter into my arms. My daughter didn't even notice someone was about to stab her and I had JUST saved her from death. I took her far from that beeyotch. XP

Def will take note of that as well! Not gonna lie though, I much rather play as males anyway since i'm scared of ruining a population with babies when i'm a girl xD It's happened to me twice now so i'm just... gonna lean away from that until I can make better judgement calls and just hope to be a baby boy ; v ; (Or at least, hope I have less kids when I do xD)

WomanWizard · 2018-10-27 06:50:33

Hey, if you're interested in what was going on in your mother's head when she had you, I was streaming this on Twitch, and.... I was your mother. Same username as here, if you're interested. I legit cared about you. I was messing around telling you to pet the snake.

I was actually lost, by the way. I just, perhaps, didn't care enough about that city to make a proper effort to find my way home. Decided to raise my kids in the wild/noob camp I found. Great to see your here son!

VoiceofTime · 2018-10-27 07:09:32

WomanWizard wrote:

Hey, if you're interested in what was going on in your mother's head when she had you, I was streaming this on Twitch, and.... I was your mother. Same username as here, if you're interested. I legit cared about you. I was messing around telling you to pet the snake.
I was actually lost, by the way. I just, perhaps, didn't care enough about that city to make a proper effort to find my way home. Decided to raise my kids in the wild/noob camp I found. Great to see your here son!

No worries or hard feelings about the snake thing or the being lost xD After going the distance i had to to find where that city was I figured it was definitely you being lost, but I gotta write it juicy for the story purpose yanno :"p Plus, after being in that place for like 5 minutes they were already hitting themselves with a famine because only two or three people were trying to fix the ridiculously big berry bushes lol.

The noob farm idea was so intimidating to me because I'm so new, I was in a mad rush just trying to find food to sustain ourselves because that farm that was started wayyyy too far from everything else for me, though that might have been because I was trying to be a 10 or so year-old trying to make a new farm and fire for the eggs :"3

Reflection after the fact kinda made me wish that I stuck with the noob camp but when my sister died was about when I was like 'If I find this city, i'm out!' But it's ironic because when I do get to the city and start moochin their berries some guy complains about how there's too many people together :"p Maybe you both were right, but I was already trying to start up pie production to help with the second famine which made me torn in the end ; v ; """ So I stuck around and just... did what I can xD That city was nutty though, a lot of time after you died and probably a few meters away from where I was baking some people started arguing at the farm and then there's... well.. a lot of murder in that part of the lineage we'll leave it at that. Four or five people ended up dying and a /lot/ of them were females. Unsure if the lineage is still going or died out already, i'll have to take a peak :"0

WomanWizard · 2018-10-27 07:46:55

The noob camp itself wasn't that great. The spot I left you in as a baby was probably better, because it was at least warm. Just ignore the snake. I stole the tools from the noob camp in hopes of growing better crops by the desert, but it took a while, raising kids and all that, and my daughter didn't live. So back home it was.

My main goal in the city was to fix the sheep pen, with the gate that let the sheep out when you opened it. My ins and outs as an old lady were me bringing back long shafts for the fence. I legit got lost looking for maple trees to fix that pen and I just gave up finding my way home.

VoiceofTime · 2018-10-27 07:59:31

Yeah I just finished watching through your stream and saw that we were trying to build things on the opposite sides of the noob camp xD The idea of being next to the snake was intimidating though, because he kept hiding in all the trees that were there and I wasn't sure if he'd jump at me for whatever reason which is why I stuck towards the noob camp. I gotta learn more about temperature stuff tbh :"/ I chicken out of being an Eve because of it.

It was a good choice to go back once your daughter died though. I'm not sure how good of a mother she would have been since she seemed to be very new and she died right next to a bush with berries while saying 'F' as a toddler that could eat. Probably needed a lot more guidance, which would have made farm building and expanding even slower.

And yeah, I saw that too :"0 Things are tough when you forget that home marker. In one of my runs I went off looking for a shaft to make a hoe and forgot to make myself a home marker so I starved trying to find my way back (no bushes around, and my own way of giving up since I was too new to how and where to set up an Eve camp)

I'm happy that the three of us made it as long as we did though despite all the nutty circumstances :"D The sheep pen worked wonders in the end and Aquarius did a good job of maintaining it once you were gone! Thanks for doing what you could for it.

VoiceofTime · 2018-10-27 08:10:31

They got to Gen 18, not bad considering the state that place was in.

WomanWizard · 2018-10-27 08:50:18

Yeah, Eve camps can be rough with the wild animals. You sort of get better at dodging them, but I got caught by a few wild animals today, even with the experience I supposedly have.

Glad to hear the sheep pen was working out round the end. I let one out early and reeealy wanted to fix that problem.

Eve Bear · 2018-10-27 13:43:22

Heya! I was Gen 13 Lenser and by that time, the family was peaceful, happy and working together. It was a wonderful town and had much potential! I really enjoyed growing up there and my mom Kiana was really great. I had one daughter who died to a bear she was attempting to kill, very unfortunately, because I only had one other daughter who decided at age 20 something she'd like to suicide. I begged her to stay because she was the only fertile woman at that point, but she refused and I assumed we were doomed.

It should have ended the family right there. But wait! Jason added code that kept people alive after they quit... I thought she was AFK not realizing the change. So I saw the chance and begged my nephews to help keep her alive until at least one baby popped out that would save the family. I was getting older quickly and started a count down... three grandboys and I was about to die. Nooo, we needed a girl! I offered to let the boys live but without a girl, no much reason to so the three wisely bowed out.

Then, just as I was dying of old age, I spotted a new baby pop. And I saw just before everything dimmed, it was a girl. The family was saved! Well done nephews who kept her alive long enough. You saved the family for at least a few more generations. You didn't quit, you didn't let your ancestors down. I'm so very proud of you!

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The Little Lenser that Could

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