Longshank climbed stiffly down from the wagon, stretching his leg with a wince before taking Blaze's halter and guiding their wagon into its position in the half-circle barrier.
"He's not happy you made him ride on the cart all day," Ket said.
"I don't care. His new leg was clearly hurting him after yesterday's march. Besides, I need him rested. He has a job to do."
I had no doubt Longshank would have limped his way through the entire march today without so much as a whimper, but even his fortitude had its limits. As much as he tended to rub me up the wrong way, the hunter was much too important to the tribe for me to risk his health for the sake of his pride.
As a hunter—an advanced profession—he could command a party of up to five scouts on a single expedition for a duration of up to twenty-four hours, thanks to his Scout Leader skill. I'd sent them out that morning to gather materials from the surrounding forest, and then consigned them to the carts for the afternoon. Now they were rested and ready to go out once more.
Back when I’d been using the Scout ability on denizens without the actual scout vocation, I’d been forced to not only expend mana to do so, but also to convey instructions on what to look for in a very unreliable way. Thankfully, when it came to Longshank I could choose from a list of basic options using the Augmentary. I selected “Food (hunting)”. Shanky instantly perked up and started issuing orders to his squad.
Once they were out of sight, I reassured myself that the remaining gnomes' preparations were going smoothly, then glanced over the blueprints of the items the scouts had brought back that morning. I paused to inspect one in particular.
Misthoard
Plant (bromeliad)
Unlike other plants which are designed to absorb water, the waxy outer surface of the misthoard’s leaves repels water (’hydrophobic’), funneling it instead into the center of the plant where it will be stored for later consumption.
Though bromeliads are often found in desert environments and other hot climates, their hydrophobic functions can also be found in certain sub-species that prevent the stored water from freezing solid in winter.
"What are you going to do with those?" asked Ket curiously.
"I want to try something." I concentrated on the nearest builder—Buttress, a heavily-built gnome who was almost as wide as she was tall—and her Augmentary profile popped up beside her. Focusing on her list of builder abilities, I selected 'Assess,' then attempted to mentally send her the misthoard leaf’s blueprint.
She glanced around. Clearly seeing nothing, she returned to her task of assembling a tent.
"Psst," came Bekkit's whisper. "Try using the physical specimen rather than the blueprint."
"I can still hear you, you know," grumbled Ket. "And I was actually about to suggest the same thing."
"Of course you were."
With Ris'kin's help, I located the leaf sample, which had been repurposed by one of the children as a hat after being dumped in a cart by the scout who'd found it. Rather than attempt to prise the item away from its new owner, my avatar instead took the child's hand and led her over to where Buttress and the other builders were now rigging the makeshift shelter for those unable to fit inside the thatch tents.
This time, when I selected 'Assess,' Buttress dropped the portion of the hide she'd been holding—much to her fellow builders’ annoyance—and advanced toward the child. The little girl continued to suck her thumb sleepily while the builder examined the dark green facets of her leafy headwear.
After a minute, Buttress nodded, then turned away from the child and resumed construction of the shelter.
Blueprint discovered!
Raincatcher
Survival
Catches rain. Can also function in limited capacity in misty or humid air, depending on the leaves used.
Material prerequisite(s): Misthoard leaves x 4
Nice!
Interesting that it fell under the ‘survival’ label rather than 'construction' – perhaps because it was a mobile contraption rather than a permanent one.
I wanted to find all the other new materials and have my builders assess those too, but I was distracted by something else I'd noticed. I pulled up Buttress's profile again.
"You weren't kidding when you said the gnomes are improving, Ket," I said. "Look at these skills!"
My sprite trilled with excitement at the listed array. "She definitely didn't have these skills before the exodus, did she?"
"I can't say for sure, but I doubt it was building gnomehomes that gave her levels in Muddy Terrain."
"Three levels in Endurance... that'll be handy... Corey, this is brilliant!"
"They're all gaining passive skills as they travel," I told her, my own excitement building. "This exodus might actually be the best thing that could have happened to us."
"Assuming you complete it successfully," Bekkit said.
"Why must you always ruin everything?!"
"Don't worry," I told my sprites. "I have a good feeling about this."
The rain had finally eased, and the glint of stars winked from beyond the thick canopy of leaves and branches. The woodland had grown denser the deeper into the forest we'd traveled, and I was definitely starting to feel more at home under the trees' shelter.
Unlike the previous night, most of the gnomes did not immediately seek shelter in their tents, and were no longer huddling beneath the misery of a constant downpour. Instead they gathered around the warmth and light of spongy pink hearthshrooms and disc-like broilcups. Unlike illumishrooms, hearthshrooms emitted warmth as well as light, though only when three or more of them were grouped together. Grimes wheeled a barrow of them over to an elderly couple who were swapping stories at the entrance to their tent; the pair thanked the young farmer and offered him a seat alongside them, which he graciously accepted.
Broilcups were a species Swift and Cheer had brought back from a past scouting expedition. The black, tough-looking mushrooms were unlike any of their species I'd so far encountered. Far from thriving in damp conditions, broilcups seemed to despise water, and reacted to its touch by heating it to boiling temperatures in
