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[Kagus]

First of Moonstone, 1052

Winter.  The air has started to turn from merely being crisp, to having a small bite.  I haven't seen any snow yet, but that I am sure will come soon enough.  Already some of the trees have started to die off, their skeletal frames looking on impassively as they make their own preparations for winter.

I observe the faint hint of steam coming from my breath as I put on my hunting quiver.   I may not be able to find much out here, but I will be most surprised if I find nothing at all.

The dogs pant and prance happily.  They will quiet down once we are out on the hunt, but for now the excitement of anticipation is too much to contain, and they start to show that they still have springs in their legs.  I worry about the puppies scaring away the prey, but there's not much I can do about it, as Pandora will have nothing to do with staying home and the puppies can't be left untended.

Tabitha, still technically a kitten but quickly growing into her full size, is content to chase rats around the food pile, and gives us only a passing glance as we set out into the forest.

We came upon a fox, and after a well-aimed shot brought it down, I took it back to the settlement for butchering.  It's lean, but it will provide food for a short time at least.  It will certainly not last me the winter, but it is something.  I will just have to be careful of how much I eat.

What little fat it had will have to the dogs, as I have no means of processing it for myself.  I doubt that they will mind the extra morsel, however.  I feel more loss over the creature's skin, as I cannot turn it into anything usable without proper tanning equipment.  I will have to let it go to waste, a habit I can ill afford under these conditions.

Still no snow, but while out hunting it began to rain freezing droplets.  I believe that I was protected from having too much of my body exposed to the water, but I will have to be very careful about my warmth.  If I get sick out here, I will be without any aid.  

I have spent what little spare time I have shooting at the crossbow target.  I am still not as good as I would like to be, but I feel confident that I could severely wound an attacking wolf, if it came to that.  I truly hope that it does not.

[Kagus]

Eighth of Obsidian, 1052

It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I first came here.  I was fortunate, at least, to settle in a place which does not get cold enough for full snowfall.  It is already late into the winter, and I have seen only a few wayward flakes drifting down to melt on the ground, along with the occasional frost-encrusted shrub.  Neither the ponds nor the river has frozen over, and the large predatory fish still swim in them, but it does not matter.  At least for now, I have been spared a harsh winter.

I am starting to become rather comfortable with my crossbow.  I find that my shots hit their mark more often than they did before, and placing a new bolt into the slot has become the task of my fingers, not my mind.

Using this new proficiency, I have struck down a deer on another hunting excursion.  Pandora went for the throat of the creature after I had wounded it, and she has sustained a few bruises from the flailing hooves.  She acts no worse for the wear, however, and still trots happily around with her brood following close behind, although she's going to be a little stiff until the wounds have healed completely.

The deer has provided me with enough food to last for some time yet, and I feel that I can turn my sights towards building a larger house next year.  Now that I have completed the forest's first test of endurance, and I have fulfilled my base needs, I may as well get as comfortable as I can.

[ March 09, 2008: Message edited by: Kagus ]

[Kagus]

Ninth of Granite, 1053

Spring has come, and with it Tabitha has filled out into a fully grown prowling, purring, butterfly-slaying cat.  Pandora has given birth again, and I'm starting to wonder how many more litters she will produce.  I can't feed a horde of dogs by myself, and it looks like that's exactly what I'm getting.

I've started digging up the ground for a couple small plots, one for Longland grass and one for strawberries.  I'm no farmer, but I may as well try to put the seeds to good use.

I have also started clearing the trees from the area I feel would best suit a more comfortable house.  I am but a single dwarf, and so I will have to plan it carefully.  I will spend as much time on doing it right as is required, since my needs are already attended to by my current accommodations.

This is my land now.  I have come to terms with the woods, and have been allowed this small patch of turf on which to build my house.  Once I have constructed something that will last me longer than the little brewery hut, I will begin searching the surroundings for other people.  I do not intend to spend my life out here, but I will not venture out alone.

And besides, it's not that bad here.  I may even grow to like it some day.

[Lord Dullard]

Really good writing! I like it a lot so far.  

[Jayjayjuhwetplane]

This is so dope. I want to try the hermit thing some time but I'll leave the writing to you.

[Jayjayjuhwetplane]

Okay, is there any way to get around the thing where mr. hermit goes insane when all his friends die simultaneously?

[Kagus]

Yeah.  Get lucky with someone who "can handle stress", "is often cheerful", and who only made two friends on the trip.

I got really really lucky with this guy, he didn't even throw a tantrum.

[Lord_Frodo]

The one thing Ive always wondered about most hermit challenges is, How do you kill off the other six dwarfs?

[Lemnx]

I really like this! (Bookmarks)

[valcon]

quote:Originally posted by Kagus:
<STRONG>Ninth of Granite, 1053

Spring has come, and with it Tabitha has filled out into a fully grown prowling, purring, butterfly-slaying cat. </STRONG>

Awww    I can't wait to see what kind of traits he develops in solitude, perhaps some kind of neurosis.  

Have you ever watched Survivorman?  This is so survivordwarf.  I'm quite jealous that you've managed to get it going so well, I've tried 5 times since reading this thread to get a solo fort going but it always ends in tragedy.  

Also, can we get some screenshots of the area you're currently settled in?

[Kagus]

First of Hematite, 1053

My second summer in this place, and I have completed only part of one wall.  I have little better to do, but I would have this task completed sooner rather than later.

Over my time spent practicing and hunting, I find that I have become increasingly more adept at using the crossbow.  It is almost an instinct to load and fire it, the bolt making a pleasant thunk as it hits the now somewhat pockmarked target.  Maybe it is instinct.

Although it is nowhere near finished, and still has not taken a shape of its own, the prospect of the house that I am building fills me with happiness, pride, strength...  Maybe even hope.  

The pine wood used in making the brewery imparts a slight and not-unpleasant tang to the beer as I take a drink to ward off the heat.  It's not really that bad out here, so long as I don't think about the mountainhomes.  My old life, and my new life which died before it had even started, along with the lives of my friends.

But such is life.  The forest does not hold favorites.  You must earn your position of survival, and I intend to do just that.

[Kagus]

Second of Limestone, 1053

Autumn has come again.

I have spent nigh on two years in this place, and have yet to see another living soul aside from the wildlife.  Instead of easing my worries, it only makes them stronger.  I know that there's something out there, but I don't know who or what it is, or even where it is.  And I don't like that, not one bit.

Pandora's first litter has grown into some reasonably well-built pups.  They have reached the age where they have started to become a little more independent, and are thus ready for training.   Hopefully, it will keep them somewhat in check.  Trying to hunt when you have a pack of yipping puppies crashing through the undergrowth behind you is not very easy.  Luckily I continue to get better with my crossbow, and I have found that a bolt flies faster than a deer runs.  Invaluable information in these woods.

My minor farming efforts have yielded little gain, but I am no longer concerned about low food supplies.  I can find what food I need in the forest, be it sturdied by root, hoof or paw.

I have decided to try my target practice on a moving target.  Two of the savage predatory fish have somehow made their way into one of the small ponds in the local area, and I will see how well their speed matches that of my bolts.  The archery target I set up has been getting a bit worse for the wear, so I think I shall give it some respite.

[Kagus]

First of Granite, 1054

Two whole years I've spent out here.   Pandora gave birth to a third litter sometime in autumn, and so a new batch of wriggling puppies has joined our little encampment.  It seems that she is perpetually bloated with pregnancy, and yet she always finds time to waddle after me with her brood close behind.  

Perhaps I named her a little too aptly...

The ground floor is starting to take shape, although the floor is still bare dirt and the walls have not yet been fully enclosed.  The upper floor will take some time, however I feel that I will be more than comfortable in this abode when it is finally finished.  

Work on the house has proceeded with relative swiftness, as I find that I have become innately conscious of where a tree must be struck in order to fell it.  Harvesting the raw lumber required for this project has strengthened me to no small degree, and I find that my skin has become tougher from my extended time in the harsh elements.  My stomach has also thickened somewhat, due to a trial-and-error course in which woodland plants are edible, and which ones are most certainly not.

I have slain two of the predatory fish from the banks of one of the ponds, but the riverdwellers still vex me greatly...  In late summer of last year (it is so hard to think of it as that, but it was indeed last year), a black bear walked up to the wter's edge to drink.  No sooner was it there than a massive spiny fish head lunged from the water and ripped the creature's leg off, dragging it back into the river.

I will have to take precautions if I am to be near these waterbeasts for any extended time (listen to me, "extended time".  As though two years pass in but a single day).  I cannot allow them to harm my dogs, and the longer they spend alive the longer they have to escalate from a mere nuisance to a significant danger.

But first I must build this house.  I may even finish flooring the ground level by end of this year.

[martinuzz]

I'm enjoying this!

Good stuff!

[Necronopticous]

This is great, man.