Back on track

Fights were fought, people are exhausted. No one is energetic enough to really do anything today, so we decide to eat together and then sleep. My fear that we were lacking beds was completely unreasonable.

The leprechauns gathered a few clothes and rocks, then made a provisional bed for themselves. Easy to sustain people!

I slept good, just in thought of the bed in my tunnel-home. It wasn't comparable, but still really good for such a hard and small bed. Waking up early the next morning was easy once again. I stand up, wash myself in the river, after checking for Catalyt.

As I want to be a good guy, I also prepare quite some breaksfast - I hunt a few bears, pick up a few of the elven resources and cook them. Not together, elves didn't eat meat.

Halfway through the smell already woke up some of the soldiers. The meat stew and the bread did smell delicious, they also looked pretty enjoyable. As we had many nobles, we also had seasoning - pepper, salt and even slight bit of chili. I added them, making the stew sizzle a bit.

The emitted smell got even better, woke up more and more of our population. God, as they were standing up I noticed our numbers!

Oh. Okay, it was not only the guys standing up, but also the other half of our army joining. Even so, our numbers were way above the inhabitants of the royal capital!

And all of them were hungry. This was nowhere near enough for all of them. What did I expect by hunting four bears?

I tastechecked it one last time, before taking a few of every race to hunt again. We look back at the stew getting obliterated by leprechauns and humans, as elves were sitting down and silently enjoyed their bread. God we also needed some plants!

Planning ahead for this hunt was key. Three out of four soldiers ate meat, so I assigned hunting animals to more people. Basically the elves and Tohrin went to gather some herbs, whilst the others had fun. Yes, I do still have a bit of a grudge against Tohrin, he doesn't complain and simply joins the elves.

Wait, wasn't this a bit against my own rules? I did ask him if he was content to do so... I think it is still fine, but I'll try to avoid doing something similar again.

The hunting group split up, single hunters were simply better than a group was. I also made a competition out of this. Who got the most meat will lead the next hunts. Going out of the camp to hunt as the leader was not really acceptable.

Sadly, because I was pretty sure I would win this. Using trees to climb, then surprising animals the others won't even notice, due to my instincts, then killing and storing it.

The beasts were not a real threat, simply throwing my sword usually sufficed. If it didn't I just kill it by hand, there was not a single scratch on me after the hunt - so my arrogance was not punished.

My prey was seven deers, five bears and a few squirrels. I also got one snake, but it was inedible so I didn't count it.

I returned to our meeting point, where five of the original eight were already waiting. Their haul was pretty good! The silent leprechaun in the back was amazing, he got even more than I did, there was no way to really compete with him, if he comes back with a mutated bear.

Who even thought of that name? The animal was not a bear, it was a wingless dragon with brown scales! Anyway, I asked for his name to announce him as the winner, after I saw the others with similar loot to mine. His answer:" Ophal, you can refer to me as 'op'"

His name was probably chosen by the look of his eyes. They looked like two opals, using op was the better choice. Being reminded of those cold eyes is not a good thing.

After announcing his win shortly, we go back to our camp. Like expected, the food was already gone. We set up a bigger fire, this time aiming for cutlets, as the meats quality was better and we could afford to throw some of it away. About the time we were done, the herb and berry squad got back. They had fully loaded backpacks.

Elves did know where to find their food, what a wonder.

As my job was basically done, I tell the others to keep watch on the meat, to see what they made of those herbs.

The elves got out a weirdly shaped, big backpack... Or construct? They put some of the berries in, what came out below was some liquid. Was it a drink? Elves started to drink it, so my question answered itself. I see leprechauns and humans trying, they seem pretty happy with the result.

Note to myself, never doubt elven berry treatment. They know better than I do. Their remainder of their gathering trip was used for a salad. Tohrin was pretty happy with this turn of events, did he like picking fruits, herbs and vegetables? Seems very likely!

Unexpected, but pretty useful. Having a strong fighter in every squad was a very good thing. It makes them less vulnerable.

We finish our meal with a mixture of meat and fruit juices, really complimenting each other. It seems the quest: Gain energy for your travel was more than managed. Departure awaits, we got to gain some materials for smithery, we have to conquer and win over the old leprechaun capital.

It was only slightly into the demon domain, so we should be fine with out current strength. Should be marks it pretty good. There is still a high risk.