The two humans assented with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
“Then let’s be off. We still have a long way to go,” I said. “And be careful. We’ve already lost a scout. I won’t lose anyone else.”
I really hope that’s a promise I can keep.
Forty
Finger Flingers
Corey
The scout’s death—the first casualty of the exodus—felt significant beyond the simple fact; an ominous turning point. Though Bekkit pointed out we’d been lucky thus far, and that statistically one denizen out of a hundred and one was a more than acceptable margin, it didn’t feel that way.
“They’re gnomes, not numbers,” I snarled at him the third time he tried to console me with facts. “The only ‘acceptable’ casualty margin is zero.”
I’d had serious concerns about our newly acquired quartet of dire badgers, but now that their queen was dead there was nothing ‘dire’ about them. Of course we already knew they were fierce fighters, but otherwise they were as docile as dormice. Following the lead of Bruce and the others, they soon grew accustomed to yokes and harnesses—not to mention extra food and behind-the-ear scritches—and soon enough it was like they’d been part of the tribe all along.
On another positive note, days of experimenting had finally allowed the carpenters to unlock upgrades for the wagons, on which I immediately instructed them to begin work. Ket grew very excited, and gushed about absorption and energy and interfaces and other things that made my attention drift away completely.
Is this how she feels when I go on about how neat ghoul’s beard and other plants are?
I tuned out most of Ket’s explanations, but as far as I could tell, the latest upgrade mostly involved a process called sapping, so named for its use of a rubbery material made from dried sap. When applied to the parts connecting the wagon’s bed to its wheels, the sap provided a sort of insulation, absorbing much of the vibration caused by the uneven terrain. The carpenters also carved carefully-angled grooves into the wheels’ outer surface to give them improved traction. These new improvements allowed my denizens to travel much more quickly over rough surfaces without risking the snapping of important components. It also made for a smoother ride for those on board; my warriors and scouts were able to rest more thoroughly and for longer, regenerating more stamina and improving morale.
The time we saved—now that we were no longer having to stop for repairs every hour—meant we were making better progress than ever before. Coll estimated we were managing to cover around twelve miles every day. Initially I was underwhelmed by this number, but when I factored in how short the gnomes’ legs were it was actually quite an impressive distance.
The more ground we covered, the more new resources the tribe gained. As I’d hoped, Swift and Cheer’s Scavenge ability compensated somewhat for the loss of our scout. In particular, the pair had an uncanny knack for finding new mushroom species, many of which promised to be very useful at some point in the future.
Blunderball
Fungi
The blunderball expels compressed air when exposed to excessive noise or force. The concussive blast produced has earned it the nickname “pistol shroom.”
I didn’t know what a pistol was, but it sounded fun. However, my excitement at the idea of exploding fungi quickly faded after the first demonstration. The “concussive blast” mentioned in the Augmentary’s description was more of a limp-sounding fwip, barely any different than the sound made by a puffball mushroom, and without the bonus of expelling choking spores.
However, when my farmers used Assess on the new specimen, I received a pleasant surprise.
Advanced vocation unlocked: Botanist (fungi)
The pre-requisite for the vocation was for an individual to have gained the blueprints for fifteen different species of fungi, which both of my farmers apparently just had.
According to its description, a botanist was much more skilled at harvesting spores and useful materials from existing specimens. Furthermore, they were able to combine existing fungi into new hybrid species—something the farmers had thus far struggled to accomplish. Not from lack of trying; each of the farmers’ handcarts was filled with soil and was home to a variety of specimens that had been hastily transplanted from the Grotto’s shroomeries before our departure. Throughout the journey they’d been gathering samples of soil and leaf mulch from each new area and gradually introducing them to the mobile shroomeries. I’d even seen them doing this with animal droppings, presumably—hopefully—for use as fertilizer.
As soon as I assigned them the ‘botanist’ vocation, a wealth of new Augmentary options became available to me with the addition of a ‘botany’ tab. It seemed that similarly to my Creation ability, which allowed me to combine the blueprints of existing creatures into a hybrid at the cost of varied mana and Creation slots, the botanists now had access to similar information that granted them knowledge of how to breed different species of fungi to create new ones. I could either leave them to their own devices, or direct their efforts myself.
Naturally, I chose to meddle. My cackling while I scanned through blueprints for the most fun options drew several curious glances from human and sprite alike, but for now I kept my ideas to myself.
Several days later I received a ding from the Augmentary, alerting me that the botanists’ labor had borne fruit. Dangerous fruit—err, fungus.
Finger Flinger
Hybrid fungi
First bred by gnomish botanists in the wilds of Sethanan Forest, finger flingers expel compressed air when exposed to excessive force. Whilst growing, the fungus takes in dust and grit from its surroundings and coats them in mucus that hardens into a stone-like consistency. Their expulsion upon detonation makes the finger flingers particularly deadly when used as projectile weapons.
Yes!
It was exactly what I’d hoped for. The new and improved blunderball-puffball hybrids would react to force but not noise, meaning they would only explode upon impact—perfect for throwing, or perhaps even slinging. Even better, they’d now shoot out shrapnel, damaging enemies as
