>>84957
(nah you're doing fine just post who you are in the discussion thread please)

As you walk outside you spot several large shelled animals. They remind you vaguely of Armadillos though, on a far more massive scale. Charles is over near one of them handing it handfuls of food. Nearby a larger one is slowlty working its way towards him.

>>316773

Should I provide more?

>>84960
I am thinking about the birds, but I want to get livestock for work/mounts first. It seems like their rummaging attracts them anyway.

(Linking is not working across boards, so I am the character who was the only person responding in the initial days of the quest. It is great to see others participate. I made a post about taking a religious leader in nondenom)

How about tying some roots to a string and lead them on? We got mount, albeit too slow.

Now we need to think of way to make them dig...

>>84967
As well, we can work on different projects since there are more of us. If Castaways is OK with that.

Get more roots for the bull... a lot more.

>>84960
The farmer seems to still be soundly sleeping. You remeber that he had somehow managed to get into a shots contest with the Bongo guy...not exactly a great role model it seems.

As for the birds they seem simply wait till they can spot a good sized patch of ground that the large animals have dug is easily accessible. You also spot several flying from the wooded area that the scouts,charles and the farmer went to last night.

>>84963
You easily tear up some roots that it missed. Handing them off you even manage to get close enough to pet the animal its head is almost rock-like save for a few fine hairs that dot its broad face.

Nearby the bull is still grunting and slowly working its way over. You're not wholly sure if its hurrying and thats as fast as it can go or it simply does not care and is just after a free mill.

>>84970
Certainly just tell me what you are plotting and I'll post when needed.

Grab some roots and go over to the bull. Also I want to see if the first one will follow me or not.

Suggest that we can use the animal to transport the tree from yesterday.

>>84976
Good idea. But first taming. If that fails ill just lure em there and lure em back.

Also, speak to biologist about taming birds. Ask for advice on how to do it.

>>84977

I am in agreement with you.

>>84975
As you do so the littler(relatively) follow along seeming to expect you to feed it. As you near the bull it pauses Eying the large handful of roots warily. Across its broad helmet you see several deep gashes and across its Volkswagen sized shell you see cracks that have slowly started to harbor moss.
>>84976

Could work. Getting the ropes to actually drag the log on their bodies might be that hard part though.

Lay the roots in front of it and back away.

Slowly the great animal moves closer, eying you as it does so. And with a little hesitation snatches the mass of roots with a single bite. Chewing on them like a cow would its cud.

>>84978
You easily rouse the forester. His eyes are blurry and he seems to be still half asleep. Looking at you mild confusion he gives a loud yawn.

"yes? Its a bit early still isn't it?" He says with a mumbling sound.

Okay good sign. It likes food more than its suspicious.
Get more if I can and offer it to it again, this time stay a bit closer.

Castaways Castaways 2009/12/02(Wed)18:09 No. 85013 ID: b2f3ab
File 125980619817.jpg - (149.42KB , 781x599 , 781px-Glyptodon_(Riha2000).jpg )

>>84986
You manage to scrape up a decent amount again and this time edge a little closer to it. With less hesitation this time it happily chows down. Behind you with a constant rattling the smaller one comes behind you giving you a rough head butt to get your attention. It wasn't very hard but, that helmet and those knobs still smart!

Woah there nelly. This time get food for both of em if I can. Separate the piles for the bull and kid, bulls don't usually share.

You hastily separate the piles as much as you can. Though, the bull seems to be intent on getting both piles to itself. With something like a Snort of frustration the smaller animal tries to push it's elder out of the way. You narrowly duck out and can't help but to grimace as the air is filled with the sound of bones mashing against bone.

The bull simply stands it's ground letting the calf take out its frustration as it eats. nearby you can hear some of the others waking up and their reactions to discovering the herd that has decided to stay for breakfast.

Hmmm. I cant manage all this by myself. I go wake up the forester and Frankie. I explain what im trying to do and see if they want to help.

>>85088
(the forester got woken up by snow.Where did s/he go anyways? >.>)

Snow will probably be back in an hour or half that.

>>85102
(alright)

Franky meanders out from the Same guys tent you had come from.He sometime in the night managed to lose his shirt revealing a rather full belly.

"Charlie....what the hell are you doing?" he says with a stretch that causes his shoulders to pop and his joints to crack. "And what in the fucking world are they?"

Well ask the forester if he can help.

>>85105

Snow explains the situation to the forester who still looks somewhat groggy as he joins the party. As he sees the Bull and calf he perks up however.

"Well, Thats a shock." He yawns as he moves closer to inspect the animals. "These should be extinct..."

>>85104
"If all goes well Frankie, our new livestock. Can you help me out?"

U alive man?

>>85107
He nods as he edges a little closer.
"Sure. What do you have in mind?" He says Trying to avoid the calves tail as it swings about uncontrolled. "If you say ride it though I'm outta here."

>>85112
(yeah just slow access speed here -.-)

(OK I understand. No pressure)
"Well these things look like they could pull a lot of weight. We can use them for 'beasts of burden' and to help with the plowing." *smirk* "I do want to try and ride one though"

>>85116
"your funeral man." he says with a small laugh. "so how do we get them to listen? They seem to be pretty solid. I don't think they'll give us much attention."

He gives one a small kick to the massive shell of the bull, Unsurprisingly, this does nothing. The animal does nothing but continue about its business. Its thick claws tearing apart the sod as it tries to reach the roots and break free the grasses that have grown tightly into the earth.

"Ive been trying to tame them with food. Seems to be working. Well in any case their eating it. I don't know if they actually like me. Hopefully if I feed em enough they will get used to the idea and stick around"

>>85120

The Forester studies the animals with a perplexed stare.
"I'm not sure thats a good idea. They seem to like to keep moving...Not to mention I don't know how long the ground can take this sort of abuse." he pauses as he works out something in his head. His face obviously showing that the gears are a little gummed up even as they turn.

"We can train them though. They might be on a migration pattern. If we teach them where they can get easy food they'll probably make this a regular stop. And who knows maybe a few of the older ones will stay around because of an easy food supply." He explains studying the old bull.

"Good point. Lets try your method."
Gather some more roots and feed them for say 30 minutes or until they don't want more. Whichever comes first.

I forgot about this. Try to get close enough to the bull to pet it, and then do so.

>>85126
You manage to gather enough of a pile of grasses, and roots to keep their attention for a while. but, eventually like any animal they lose patience and begin to move off towards parts unknown. Or, rather shockingly towards the woods.

One by one with the old bull in the lead, the massive creatures drift towards the forest. Their great bulks tearing through the under story like bulldozers. After a while the only thing that leaves a testament of their passing is the thick so torn to little more than topsoil and the wide path that cuts into the woodland like a stab wound.

Oh well. At last we got some natural plowing out of it.
I'm going to call it a night. I just remembered a ton of work I have to do.
So later

As the morning shifts slowly into the middle of the day. You can still hear the crashing and thunderous sound of trees being knocked over as the herd makes its way farther into the woods. Farmer has managed to rouse himself from sleep and has started working over a section of the ground that the Animals have torn up.

Meanwhile, Andrew has organized a party to retrieve the rest of the tree that was felled. The Forester is also going along to investigate the interior some more as well as locate possible food plants. He explains to the group that he has spotted several large patches of blackberries and wild leeks. He also believes that perhaps there might be wild potatoes or some other tuber in the interior as well.

The non-denoms have claimed a shovel and are slowly working one of the other plots, filtering out the the tangle of roots and grass and setting them to one side so that the herd has something to eat when they will eventually show up.

*Stretch* I think I got up too fast. Any news on the water expedition team?

>>85274
Andrew shrugs as he settles down on the ground, setting a backpack down alongside him so that he can adjust the contents.

"Not much, they got scared and came running back just after you guys left." He explains. "I'm leading another expedition today though."

"Want some company?"

Andrew nods as he pulls the pack back on.

"Always appreciated." He says smiling."Besides, now that we've got the daylight to burn you can show us where that tree is if you want. We'll be needing wood for a fire tonight as it is."

Alright. I show them where to find the tree.
(oh no! thread in danger)

>>85860
(tell me about it)

You, Andrew and the two scouts from yesterday and the forester head into the forest following the trail that the herd so conveniently made. The underbrush is almost completely cleared away and several small trees have been easily knocked over. Older trees have had their bark scraped away.

Andrew leads on point, his gun already at his shoulder. The forester has a notepad which from what you can see is slowly being filled with a steady stream of notes, drawing and completely arcane looking figures to you. Moving steadily you easily find the tree you had felled yesterday. Andrew casually orders the two scouts to get to work as they unsling axes.


As they take their first swings something darts out from under the fallen mass. The forester spots it easily as he begins to write down as fast as he can.

Andrew lines up a shot and fires a single round stopping the small animal in its tracks.

"Woah Andrew, easy boy"
Check out the animal.

>>85876
He shrugs.
"Old habit. Besides I prefer not to take chances." he explained.

You go and inspect the remains of the animal. It looks oddly like a rabbit. Its long face topped with a pair of alert ears and its thin frame is covered in a buff colored fur. But, the resemblance breaks with its feet.

Small hooves replace paws on the little animal. The forester seems more than a little intrigued.

"I appreciate that attitude Andrew"
Take it up.
"Guess we have some lunch. Unless of course you don't think that's a good idea Mr..."
Ask foresters name.

>>85890
The forester studies th animal.

"Armstrong" he replies in an absent minded air. "I think it should be fine...It looks a bit like a rabbit. I wonder if it fills the same sort of niche..."

"I hope so, cause right now that niche is my stomach"

Nodding Andrew quickly procures a knife and guts the animal leaving a small pile of entrails next to where it had fell.

"We should try to find a few more of these. Hey, Armstromg, Bronson can you take this back to camp and round up some people to finish this up? I'll keep looking for food and a water supply with these guys."

"Alright"

I don't remember if I said this before or not, but im telling you now. I always carry my sheathed knife with me.

>>86024
(fair enough)

As you two wind your way through the woods back along the path the herd had cleared. occasionally a small animal darts through your path. Armstrong seems lost in trying to figure out the mysteries of the forest around him.

However, he pauses as something catches his attention.

"Stop!" he hisses looking around."Something's here..."

Stop, pull knife, look and listen.

As you stop you can just faintly hear some rustling amongst the trees. Its almost impossible to hear. It could be the wind for all you know. Armstrong seems certain however. The dead hoof-rabbit-thing in his hands trembling slightly...

Ah right...we have a dead animal...and we are in the 'untamed wilderness'

"Armstrong, I thing we should ditch the rabbit"

"Can you give me a position on this thing?"

Nodding he chucks the 'rabbit towards some bushes. The rustling momentarily stops and with the sound of something like a sack of bricks hitting the ground it resumes in the general direction that hte rabbit landed. You briefly glimpse something covered in mottled fur moving towards. IT easily looks bigger than a person.

Holy...
O.K then back away slowly. I don't think my knife will be of much use here.
Which way would be easier to go with out attracting its attention, back to camp or to the fallen tree?

>>86217

Armstrong motions for back towards the camp. Carefully he takes slow steps. Almost, imperceptibly moving. As he places his foot down with a soft crunch you hear a far louder noise in the background.

A low growling noise followed by the sound of bones being eaten.

That thing wont keep its attention forever.....
We need to move.
I really hope it doesn't attack those guys getting the tree... I need to go warn them while Armstrong goes to camp...

You begin to work your ways back towards Andrew. Armstrong lets out a stifled sound of shock and horror as you leave him behind. Each step you take sounds like thunder in your ears.

The hulking shape in the brush seems to still be dining upon the rabbit. The sounds of bones being chewed like crunchy candies makes your inside knot with fear.

You thankfully make a get away from the animal and reach Andrew without further issue. Back towards the way you came you hear a low howl. Its distinctly different from anything you've ever heard and the eerie sound makes your skin crawl.

THe rest of the group seems to be oblivious as they hack apart the fallen tree.

First off, have a seat and breathe deeply. I'm very glad to be alive now.
"Hey Andrew, we need to get out of here... NOW!!"

Andrew stops as mid-circuit, it would seem he was the one on watch right now. Most likely a good thing given his M-16 is currently at ready.

"What's going on?" he asks with no humor. Your voice and the fact you hurried back setting him on edge."Where's Armstrong?"

The rest of your group has stopped working. They are are all ears as something a little too close for comfort lets out a low howl. In the brush you cna hear somehting moving. Something large is moving within the thick tangle of bramble...

"That is whats wrong, Andrew. I think its following the sent of the dead rabbit-thing-whatever. I left Armstrong to go back to camp, Its likely he made it unless he attracted too much attention. Seeing as this is where the thing was killed, the sent is most likely strongest here. Whatever you do DON'T aggravate it. I think we can just slip by."

Andrew nods, the movement of his head is almost imperceptible. He turns back to the group and whispers a series of brief orders, telling them to grab their gear and what wood they can. Andrew grabs a large block hefting it so that it was it does not slow him to much.

The group begins to slowly move. Their pace is slow and purposeful. Each step is set to Andrews. His gun is over his shoulder and his eyes are moving steadily back and forth looking for any sign of danger as he leads.

Might as well keep the knife drawn

>>87127
You make your way through the forest. Every rustle in the brush setting you on edge. Something seems to be following you but...its hard to tell. Any sounds you hear are just to hard to discern from the rest.

Andrew seems almost serene in comparison. His movements are purposeful, his steps a steady rhythm. The trip seems to drag on for hours. By the time you reach the edge of the woods you, and the rest of the group are covered in sweat and insects buzz around the entire group.

Whew. I guess I can breath a little easier now, but only a little. New rule, screw the forest. Im not going back unless I have a shotgun and 2 armed meat-shields. Ok maybe not meat-shields but armed people anyway.
Back to camp, see if Armstrong made it.

>>87152
AS you reach the camp you see several people looking more than a little shocked. Something has them spooked. In the crowd you see a pale faced Armstrong.

His left arm is bloodied and he's at the edge of a circle of people gathered around something.

Dammit Armstrong. Go and see whats up.

I sure as hell hope there a re people here with first aid experience or at the very least that survival book I have has some stuff in it.

Castaways Castaways 2009/12/06(Sun)20:18 No. 87225 ID: a2b8d0
File 126015951546.jpg - (35.53KB , 526x267 , Thylacoleo_big.jpg )

>>87188

He turns towards you. His face is a ghastly shade and his arm has a long gash carved into it.

"It shouldn't have come out of the woods..."He says almost to himself. "Why did it follow me all that way back..."

In the center of the circle you see a large brown mass. Something almost the size of a bear lays on the ground, thick blood oozes from a series of gunshot wounds. Its long arms covered in thick fur and its short almost feline like face gaping open, revealing massive canines. Its back legs are only a little shorter and if possible even more massive.

A few mutters of what the hell fill the air and several people are whispering prayers at its sight. From behind you you hear a brief jesus christ come from what sounds like Andrew.

Just great, we have big cats.
Apart from my camping experience I doubt that I've a lot of serious wounds, so I turn away and try to control any nausea, got to pull myself together.
"Is there a doctor around!?! Anyone with medical experience?!"

>>87255
Even as you speak Adrian has led Armstrong off to a nearby tent. A few people have started trying to set up watches and Andrew is slowly getting another party organized.

This time around he seems to be taking at least ten people into the forest to finish the job you had helped to start. His face is set like a stone mask as he does so.

Screw this, they are not leaving me back here. I feel mostly responsible for leaving him alone.
"Give me the shotgun"

>>87275
Andrew looks at you for a moment debating.

"Take my nine mill. It's a safer bet you can handle that." He says with a voice that all too well shows his military skill. "We're taking that fucking thing back as well.I don't want more of whatever the hell that thing is showing up thanks to us being careless.

without much fanfare they use a mass of rope to drag the beasts body back to whence it came. As you near the wood. The sense of exploratory excitement is replaced by a sense of dread. A fear of the unknown. A fear of what might be lurking within its depths.

I can live with the nine mil. So much danger just to get some bloody wood. Bah. I need to get organized.

>>87341
Andrew leads the march actually dragging the thing as well. Most of the other members of the party are more than a little skittish.

"Hold up!" Someone whimpers as they come near the woods."I thought I saw something..."

"Do you THINK you saw something or did you actually see something"
I'm quite pissed right now and I doubt that the adrenalin will wear off anytime soon.

>>87356

"I'm....not sure..." He mumbled.

The man looks at the woods clearly spooked. I never wanted to be here...it's like we're in hell..."

"Hell? HELL?!? You haven't seen hell yet, this is just the tip of the flaming iceberg."
Crap gotta calm down. *sigh*
"I'm sorry, I'm just kind of pissed. Even if you didn't want to be here, you're here now so you'll have to deal with it."
Maybe we should start screening the guys on the expedition teams for 'how-easily-spooked' and weapon-skills.

>>87387
From up front you hear Andrew laugh.

"He's right you know. Charlie, maybe you should be running drills."

As you finally reach the edge of the woods Andrew manages to get the group to lug the beast into an obvious spot. Propping its massive form against a tree.

"Id kill this bastard if he wasn't already dead."

Later man Ive gotta jet.

>>87396
"Most of us would."Andrew begins giving the beast a kick.""It followed Armstrong. He never realized it. By the time he did it was moving so damn fast no one really had time to react. It took him down and got his arm. By luck of the draw that old farmer got the thing with a shotgun"

"As much as id like to hunt these guys, I don't think im equipped for the job, now anyway. Lets just get the wood and get out."

>>87511
"agreed" Andrew replied, staring at the corpse. "Hopefully this will scare them off for a bit."

time to get to business

Castaways Castaways 2009/12/08(Tue)15:28 No. 88403 ID: aa6ecb
File 126031490740.jpg - (119.44KB , 682x511 , firewood.jpg )

You once more enter the woods. Following the trail as fast as you safely can. The air is thick and oppressive now. The heat of the day making your clothes stick to you like tar. You find the blasted tree hopefully for the last time without even trying. Overhead birds are calling out across the forest and you cna just barely see the tufts of darkening clouds. It looks like it might be rain...

behind you hear the sound of axes colliding with wood with extreme speed the men are spooked now. Working as fast as they can to get the firewood they'll need for later. You see more than a few red faced and covered with sweat. Most are loathe to remove their shirts due to the small swarms of insects that now eagerly buzz around looking for a snack.

Andrew hands his axe off to an a woman who seems as burly as any man here and walks over to you.

"We need water. Did you bring any with you?"

>>88403<Did I bring my water skin?>

>>88766
You did but you've been drinking off of it through most of the trip.

"Yea, but I only have a little, want me to get more?"

Andrew nods.

"It would be appreciated. Take a few others with you and try to find a water source. I thought I heard a stream coming into here." He says with a tired look.

OK then I'll take 3 people. I don't want to go back to camp, so we will probably make a few trips filling the water skin. If anyone else brought a water bottle of something like that, ask them to hand it over.

He nods and yells to three grunts working at the log.

"Hey get over here! I've got work for you."

"Bring weapons"