It's been two weeks since I drifted onto the Island, two weeks of frantic survival. I am sometimes unsure of how I managed to last this long. I guess I have my semantic memory to thank. While knowing who I am and where I come from would be a blessing, I can't deny that the fragmented bits of knowledge I've recollected are useful.
Two weeks of living here has acclimatized me to this place. My nights are never quiet, full of screams and roars as the creatures far mightier than me hunt. My days are spent as a rat, hiding and fleeing, desperate to grab any extra piece of food I can acquire. My skin has become darker, my hands and feet rougher and my nails are ragged. I stink of salt, as the sea is the only place I can wash myself, and I fear my face is becoming weathered before it's time.
And yet, this Island still manages to surprise me. A giant hermit crab throwing fresh seafood at you was never something I expected.
It was delicious.
There is a moral in this, but I leave it as an exercise to you, the reader. I'm more concerned with preserving the leftovers.
~~~
Gathering grass is also one of those things I never imagined I would do. Herbs? Yes. Mushrooms and reeds? Perhaps, after I found which are safe to eat. But grass? I'm not even sure humans can eat such things. Some flora you can boil into soup, but grass always looked too unfulfilling even for that. If I were to boil the grass I found on this Island, I may as well be drinking water. Unless I found actual grains, like rye and rice, grass would never be on the menu. I couldn't even use it for crafting; most of the grass here barely grew longer than my hand. Too thin and weak for cordage.
But when a Witch asks you for payment, you pay.
Keeping in mind what the Witch said, I searched the small area I had come to view as "my territory". Finding grass was easy. Finding Quickgrass was harder. It is easy to say 'find the grass that sways with no wind'. But actually finding such grass was a trickier task than I had anticipated.
Especially if it's a windy day.
I spent an entire day searching for the blasted things. I could only search when the wind had died down, which never lasted for long. The weather was abominable; perhaps something was coming? I may need to bunker down in the coming days.
In the meantime, I began another crafting project. My spears have proven useful so far, even though I've rarely had to use them directly. Hunting is dangerous on this Island. Nevertheless, the spears have proven adequate if I needed to scare away some rats. But I've been considering how to extend my reach. My throwing ability with the spears leaves something to be desired, and if I wish to truly hunt using such tools, I would need spears that would fly further and hit harder.
My broken memory spat out something useful for me. An Atlatl, a spear-thrower. A simple device, a stick that would have a notch at the end for the butt of a spear, with a weight for support. The entire thing acts as a lever, allowing me to throw my spears with much more force than a simple overhand throw ever could. I managed to puncture deep into a tree while testing it.
I built and tested it over the course of two days, careful not to draw too much attention to myself. The sound of a spear hitting wood is very distinctive and carries.
My accuracy could use some work, but at least I familiarized myself with it.
[Atlatl: +2 on Spear throws]
~~~
My search for Quickgrass sped up once I was able to identify them. The Witch hadn't said everything; they only looked like grasses from a distance. They actually had multiple, branching stems instead of just one. They were more like long, thin leaves then grass.
The swaying I was told about is fascinating. It seems that they can detect warmth; sunlight causes them to slowly shift about, trying to rotate themselves to get the maximum amount to land on their surface. It's almost as if they're fighting each other for it. They're very sensitive too. Simply standing in a patch causes them to swirl around you, like a slow, green whirlpool. A bit dizzying.
I quickly gathered as much as I could carry, then tied it together with string before searching for more. I stopped by the cave now and then to store them, as they quickly grew heavy, but the task was much easier than I had envisioned.
It wasn't enough though. I acquired enough to fulfill the Witch's first task, but not the second. Not enough to learn something.
And I did have only one week before the lamp goes out...
[+8 Quickgrass]
[+13 Quickgrass]
~~~
Night gathering was not fun. Even if it was in more familiar environments. The Island wakes up at night, and it's not very friendly.
A Tusker found me. Must have wandered into it's rooting ground or something. It chased me for a bit, and I managed to give it the slip in the river, but not before it wounded me. A single cut across my leg, the skin flapping down. Luckily, the tusk avoided striking too deep; I can still use the leg, although I am slowed by it.
I managed to make my way back to the sea and was able to boil some water to clean the wound. I used the last of my rags to warp and bind it, after sterilizing the best I could.
[Moderate Wound: -2 to Celerity rolls for 1 Week]
[Boosts nulled for next three days]
Gathered lots of Quickgrass however.
[+9 Quickgrass]
Day 15
I needed to eat. So, ignoring the pain in my leg, I set out. My stomach was full, but my stores were depleted and I needed food to stay alive
What saved me were the memories of a crow. I remembered good foraging sites from the air, places where I was most likely to find something to eat. Most of it was plants, things like roots and fruits that were tasteless, but filling. I did come across the freshly killed carcass. I didn't know what it was, but it was big and there were still lots of meat left. Scaring the scavengers away took some doing, but I managed to hack off enough to last me a rough three days.
I don't know what it says about the Island and me that I managed to find more food wounded and slow then when I was whole.
~~~
The Witch hadn't given a specific time for the task to be completed, just "in a couple of days". Not an exact unit of measurement, but I feel like the deadline is approaching. There is still enough light today for a trip, but my wound would slow me...
How much of the Quickgrass do you give the Witch?
[] 25 Handfuls, as she requested
[] 30 Handfuls, more than she asked for
Do you seek medical aid from the Witch?
[] Yes, she may have some healing arts to speed my recovery
[] No, the wound isn't deadly and I do not wish to be further in her debt
GM: Enough votes and I may update again tonight.
