Day 271 | OPEN | The first step is usually the hardest

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

Who: Rob, Anyone
Open: Open
When: Day 271
Where: Wherever
What: Unexpected fashion choices.
Format: Will match


[Pre-post solo stuff]

It had been a week already and, like every morning where he had woken up in his cottage over the past week, once he was ready to leave he stopped and stared at what was on his dresser for a bit before taking it to a mirror and staring at it again. Even being his own worst critic he could tell that he'd done a good job, all things considered. He liked how it looked with the mix of badass, primal, and vaguely creepy despite it not turning out exactly as he'd imagined.

But what about other people? He was very much aware that in his own world this would be considered weird despite his own opinions of it, and that was the problem. If he went outside with this he risked being stared at, people judging him, and people thinking he's weird. The horror.

Today though, as he looks at it in the mirror, a thought occurs to him. Namely, a thought about the waste if he doesn't take it outside. With that thought in mind, he slowly makes his way downstairs to his front door. And stands there. He puts his hand on the doorknob, pauses, pulls it back, pauses, puts his hand on the doorknob, pauses, and repeats the process a few more times. The phrase "They're all gonna laugh at you!" starts bouncing around inside his head and he closes his eyes, trying to force down the anxiety that's making its way up. If he'd thought ahead he could potentially have avoided this problem; if he hadn't acted like his usual self when he'd first arrived everyone might expect something like this from him, but instead he'd presented himself as he normally did and now feels the weight of everyone's expectations about what he's like pressing down on him. Acting against that expectation is hard, and he's not sure how long he remains frozen in front of the door, paralyzed by internal conflict.

Finally though, he clenches his teeth and starts breathing heavily. Will a colossal burst of willpower he opens the door and steps outside, closing it behind him before he act on the urge to abort and go back inside.

[Open]

As of today, Rob has started to accessorize a bit. And by that I mean: a rabbit skull with a shard faintly glowing from within each eye socket, two rabbit humeruses, two rabbit femurs, and two rabbit tibias are spaced out on a braided leather cord, which is being worn by Rob as a necklace. Yes, this is indeed a thing that is happening, and will continue to happen for the foreseeable future. Rob himself is just going about his business as usual, though he does look oddly tense while doing so.

One order of business for today though is to hunt down everyone who went on the mission to the Ura. With those people, he approaches them, unintentionally stealthily contrary to expectations based on appearances, and quietly speaks up despite his apprehension about actually being the one to initiate conversation.

"Hey, um, I was, uh, I was wondering how well the carts worked out, and, uh, and if there were any improvements you think I could make to them. Or for if I make another one. I-If you're not too busy, of course."

Comments

[superdrowningskills]

.......No.

[It was silly to that that sort of thing to be the norm amongst a population of modern humans. Only hunters of the past were into that sort of thing, excepting the ones he had observed occasionally collecting heads or antlers. Or witches. Witches sometimes like the whole bone collecting thing.

...Come to think of it, didn't carved bones also make good knife handles? He had been thinking he should perhaps learn to be of some use to the Bastion as a whole outside of a combat capacity, so perhaps...]

Could you perhaps use more bones? My dietary needs require I hunt on a daily basis, so I come across quite a variety.

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Hey, if Rob ever turns evil or goes completely off the deep end and starts killing people? He'll totally hold onto their heads. Probably hang them off of his belt.]

I don't think so? Other than grinding them up for fertilizer I'm not sure what we'd use them for when we have metal to make tools. I'm only using these because they're, uh, they're the bones of the first thing I hunted and killed.

[superdrowningskills]

[That sounds like it'd get rather heavy pretty quickly.]

They make good handles for blades.

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Makes for good exercise. Just need a strong belt.]

Huh. [He puts a fist to his chin in thought.] I'd forgotten that. Don't know how to make blades though, so you probably shouldn't go out of your way to save them for me. Still, learning how to make knives at least might be worthwhile to look into at some point...

[superdrowningskills]

[Maybe one of the elk's hides would make a good belt? Or a mammoth. One of those could probably make a lot of belts. Or snazzy hats.]

Perhaps Stewart would be willing to teach you.

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[He does intend to try and learn to make useful things out of hides once he's done with cart upgrades...]

He seemed willing to teach me how to make nails. Maybe that's something I should ask him about after I ask him about metal rims for the cart wheels.

[superdrowningskills]

[And considering some of the mages in the Bastion, getting things enchanted is not out of the question.

The mention of the rims catches the pale man's interest.]

You are making a cart?

[As in a non-electrical one? One that won't make the annoying noises that large electrical things seem to make?]

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

I've made two. Well Colin helped me with the second one. They're how we got the food to the Ura. I've just been talking to the people who used them on the trip and it sounds like making the wheels better would help if and when they make the trip again. Right now the wheels just have wooden rims, so metal ones should make them easier to pull.

[superdrowningskills]

You are an aspiring craftsman then?

[Rob, you appear to actually be earning respect points from the guy who is not easy to impress.]

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Let's see how long that lasts.]

Mm, I'm not sure. I don't think I want it to be the only thing I do here, but I'm not sure what else I'd want to do. There's a couple things I wanna try. At least I can be doing something useful with myself until I figure that out.

[superdrowningskills]

...Perhaps what you wish to do does not exist quite yet. So much keeps changing at a faster pace than I could have imagined before arriving here.

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

Maybe. There's a lot of stuff this place doesn't have yet. I'm hoping to get the Monument to create sources for the materials so people can make all the essentials without needing to spend shards.

[superdrowningskills]

...It would be nice to have a proper forest.

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[He nods.]

Yeah, that tree I made was really just a stopgap measure, since I worked out how many shards I'd need for a decent forest and it was ridiculous. Since we have all this extra land though I'm pretty sure I can do it much cheaper now. I just need to research which kinds of trees would be most useful for us to have. And get the shards, but that kinda goes without saying.

[superdrowningskills]

Perhaps I shall donate to the cause. I have grown nostalgic for the smells of Wallachia of late.

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Suddenly even more awkward.]

You... you don't have to do that. Besides I don't know if any of the most useful trees for us to have would be kinds that grow in... Wallachia.

[He enunciates the unfamiliar name... though it does ring a bell, like he's heard it before...]

[superdrowningskills]

As far as I am aware, oak, beech, fir, and spruce are all valued for their versatility; I have read that poplar grows- ...grew in the marshes near the Black Sea as well, although I fear I never traveled quite far enough to confirm this.

[Not that he hadn't been curious. It's just that going to the largest marshland in Europe would have kind of been a terrible idea for someone who burns upon contact with good ol' H2O.

So, how's your knowledge of geography, Rob?]

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[How does he keep clean then?

Rob recognizes the name "Black Sea" and its general location on Earth, but doesn't comment on it; it's a generic enough name that it could just be a coincidence that one exists in both their worlds.]

Hm. I was thinking more of stuff like rubber trees, sugar maples, and maybe black locusts, but a wider variety of timber aside from just oak might be useful. Like... yew? I think? is a good wood for making bows, and there are probably other trees that'd be good for their wood. I'm not sure what specifically the kinds you mentioned are best for - I've never thought of them as anything more than just different types of wood - but I'll hafta look them up and see. Definitely gonna hafta do some broader research.

[superdrowningskills]

[Wet cloth is fine (apparently), but before he got here he got his hands on this nifty little snorkel-shaped charm that nullifies the burning. Don't think about it too hard, his world doesn't take itself very seriously.

But more importantly...]

...I was not aware that specific varieties of locusts dropped timber upon defeat. Also, would you care to explain what rubber is?

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Rob's train of thought derails in a fiery explosion at Alucard's words. Not the rubber part, that's easy to deal with. It's the way Alucard phrases his misinterpretation of black locust that throws him, because it's just so different from anything he was expecting to hear, and it takes him a moment to recover and work out what and how he needs to explain.]

...Well, um... [He crouches and takes off one of his red high-top skateboard shoes. Has Alucard encountered Velcro yet? Because that's what that ripping sound is when Rob takes off the strap that covers the bow on the laces. A moment later he holds the shoe out to Alucard, sole upward.]

The soles of these shoes are made from rubber. Actually this would be synthetic rubber, but it's pretty much the same thing as natural rubber. Basically the sap of rubber trees can be made to harden into this kind of material. It's what's usually used for the soles of shoes in my world, but there's certain machine parts that are made with rubber too, and the parts of wheels that touch the ground are covered in rubber to give a smoother ride.

As for black locust, it's a kind of tree. Dunno why it's called "locust" when it has nothing to do with insects, but anyways. It's extremely rot-resistant, so it's often been used for fenceposts. From what I've read, plenty of fences around fields in North America that were made out of black locust are still around 100 years later - it takes that long for them to rot. I'm thinking it'd be good to have for pretty much any project where we'd want to have wood in the ground or getting wet, like if we needed to build fences or boats.

[superdrowningskills]

[Alucard takes the shoe to inspect more closely, prodding the sole a bit as he listens Rob's explanation.]

I see. That does sound useful.

[He means both, but what is specifying?]

Is America the name of your world?

[Since the North bit implies there's a South.]

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Rob thinks both are useful too, and in the absence of specifics he'll assume that Alucard agrees.

He gives a soft amused snort at the "America" comment.]

I'm sure they'd like it to be. No, my world's called "Earth". North America is the continent on Earth I'm from, with Canada being the country I'm from. Canada controls most of the north of the continent and the United States of America (or "the U.S." or "the States" or just "America" for short) controls the middle of the continent. Sugar maples are native to Canada and black locust are native to the States. Rubber trees are native to South America, which is a continent connected to North America by a strip of land.

[superdrowningskills]

[...Wait.

Wait.

Earth?

But... What?

A number of small expressions pass over Alucard's face as he tries to process this new piece of information.]

...There...are continents...beyond Europe, aside from Africa and the Orient? Are you telling me that the edge of the world extends farther in one direction than I was informed?

[This is more than a little difficult for him to absorb.]

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[So it isn't just a coincidence that this guy seems Very European?]

We might not be from the same Earth so this might not be the case in your world, but in mine there are seven continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica. Europe, Asia, and Africa are connected to each other but not to any of the others, so if it's prior to 1492 in your world - assuming our worlds are the same - no one on any of those continents would know about the other four. North and South America are connected and are west of Europe across the Atlantic Ocean. Australia is southeast of Asia, and Antarctica is south of Africa, at the south pole. From what I recall the numbers most educated people in the 15th century and earlier had calculated for the size of the Earth were mostly right; the other four continents are just what fill in the blank spaces on the globe, rather than just being open ocean.

[So yes, what Alucard probably read about the Earth being round and the size it is is right, there just happens to be more stuff on the planet than originally thought. The Bugs Bunny cartoon is wrong nobody who had a good education believed that the world was flat back then but because of it now everything thinks that. /mild pet peeve]

...What century is it in your world? For me it's the 21st century.

[superdrowningskills]

[We'll just pretend he meant "edge of the world" in a more metaphorical sense, and that we weren't all lied to as children.

Alucard is quiet for a moment, trying to take in the idea that there were - or rather, had been - four massive pieces of land that he hadn't previously known about. In a way it makes sense; those vast empty spaces on the maps had always bothered him, and learning that something was there gave a small sense of vindication. Still, to know there was so much of it was a daunting prospect to someone who had only ever been within a hundred miles of home.

It doesn't help that he doesn't actually know the answer to Rob's question.]

...Ah... The last time I was aware of the year, it was 1467. However, I was asleep for quite some time, so I am uncertain of how many centuries passed between then and my awakening. I believe it to have been at least one, based upon the bloodline of certain individuals I encountered.