Rebuilding Science in a Magic World

Not long after I'm certain the lizard is dead, the goblin that was being chased before makes its way over to me, along with the goblins I was supposed to go hunting with.  It takes a little bit of convincing, but I manage to get the goblins to help me drag the lizard out of the pit that used to be a goblin hut.  Unfortunately, the only knives I have on hand are the spear head and the wood whittling knife, and my mana is very low still, so dressing the lizard into edible bits is going to take some time.  I'll also need skewers to put the meat on when its cut.

I go looking for some sticks in the forest that will work, and quickly return to the goblins and lizard.  The goblins are poking the lizard, seemingly unsure if it is going to actually get back up and attack.  I shave a few sticks down, and then do my best to convince the goblins to go find more sticks so that we can properly cook the meat.  While they go looking, I start work at carving up the lizard as best I can using the spear and wood carving knife.

After working for a bit, I check my mana, only to see that it has charged up much less than I expected, and its getting quite dark now as the second sun now also falls behind the moon.  Shortly there-after, all the other goblins start filtering back in groups, and are shocked to see not only the dead lizard, but also the destroyed goblin hut.  They don't waste much time though, as the leader goblin starts up a fire, bigger than the usual.  Goblins cook the small game they captured, and I provide skewers of lizard meat for the goblins to cook as I continue cutting it up.

Although I don't have much time to pay attention to what the goblins are up to, it seems that there seems to be a pretty sad mood overtaking everyone.  As I finish up butchering one of the lizard's limbs, I take a breather, and try to see what's going on with the goblins.  When I look about, it seems like we're missing a few goblins, so I do a head count.  It seems like we're missing three.  I then remember that the lizard had blood around its mouth when it charged into the goblin village.

I'm worried that all three of the goblins that were with the spear goblin might have been eaten.  I suppose, I can attempt to verify that...  The next section I start butchering is the abdomen, and when gut the lizard, removing the stomach and intestines, then cut into its large stomach away from the meat.  Its quite gross, but as I go through the lizard's partially digested stomach, I only find enough parts to make up one goblin.  I go and get the chief, and try my best to convey the situation.  Thankfully, the numbered rocks from before allow me to get my point across much faster.

The goblin chief gathers all the goblins, and seems to be giving them some kind of speech.  They don't leave though, so I presume that they're not going out in the darkness to look for the lost goblins.  Not that I blame them, if these lizards are out and about, it has to be quite dangerous.  I continue butchering the lizard, and a handful of goblins continue cooking.  I'm not sure whose house I inadvertently destroyed, but it seems like the goblins have sorted something out, and I see a group of goblins digging a new pit.  I suppose I wouldn't want to sleep in a place where blood coated the walls and floor either.  Nice of them to help each other out with the pit building though.  It would have been nice if I had that help when I was digging, but back then most of the goblins were afraid of me, and its not like they're as effective as I am at digging, so it's not a big loss.

After some time butchering, the lone moon which was blocking out the suns sets on the horizon, suns still behind it.  Now it is officially night time, and I still have quite a bit of lizard to butcher.  A lot of the goblins have gone to their huts by now, but it seems that a night shift of cooks have been assigned to help me.  I've recovered a little bit of mana, but it is still a relatively small amount compared to what I'd normally be recovering.  I decide to use what little mana I have to make a knife to help carve the rest of the lizard faster.

I don't know how much the knife actually speeds me up, but its definitely more comfortable to use than the spear and wood carving knife.  As the night drags on, and I'm getting close to finishing butchering the lizard, a lone goblin stumbles out of the woods, and into the goblin village.  The goblins that are still awake go and take care of him and give him some food.  I'm guessing its one of the two missing goblins gauging from the reactions of the goblins that take care of him.  Not long after the goblin returns, I finish butchering and finally get the opportunity to get some sleep.  It seems like the excess food will be stored on leaves in some of the goblin's huts.

The next morning, it looks like my mana has finally restored to full.  I decide to peek outside before doing any mana work today, just in case.  I'm glad that I did, because it looks like the goblins are gathering into groups again.  I'm not entirely sure what is going on, but when the goblin leader sees me, he makes his way over to me.  Using the numbered pebbles and some gestures towards the lizard carcass, I get the gist of the situation.  It seems like the goblins are going to split into large groups and go looking for the missing goblin, and I'm being requested to help.  I'm given some of the lizard meat from the night before to eat, and it seems like it's been reheated at a fire recently.  I'm not sure how long the meat will last for, but surely one night will be fine.

I suppose it's another way to get into the good graces of the goblins, so I agree to help.  I also feel a little connected to the potential goblin that is missing.  It was impossible to tell from the digested corpse which goblin it was in it's stomach, but the goblins that went missing were the group I hunted with from the first day, and one of the ones that are missing is the goblin that took interest in the numbered stones from before.  

We split into three groups, and head off roughly in the direction that the group was attacked by the lizard.  The goblins with me are all yelling something, which I presume is either the other goblin's name, or a generic call to get their attention.  We continue on this way for a few hours until we eventually hear a response from a little ways away.  I get ready to head over that way, but all the goblins around me seem to be scared for some reason.  I've got a bad feeling now, but I lead the way towards where the yelling came from.

As we break through the underbrush, I see the reason why the other goblins were scared.  There is another of the big lizards looking up a particularly large tree and hissing.  I can't immediately spot the goblin, but my presumption is that it is likely up the tree.  Which means we're going to have to kill this lizard to get him to safety.  I doubt the other goblins are going to be much use in this fight, so I'll have to figure out how to defeat it myself.

Thankfully I've got enough mana to use an earth spike this time, so that should help immensely if I can use it at the right time.  The big issue will be getting to that point without getting injured.  I initially try to sneak up on the lizard, but when I'm within about ten feet of it, it turns its attention to me.  Well, so much for that plan.  I get into a low stance, ready to move as soon as the lizard does.  It hisses in its deep tones and snaps its jaw at me a few times.  After seeing that I'm not intimidated, it charges at me.  I'm glad this one seems to try the same tactics that the first one did.

I deftly dive to the side as it charges and earth spike it right through the abdomen.  It yells out in pain and smacks me with its tail directly in the chest, flinging me into a nearby tree.  The air is knocked out of me and everything is spinning.  After a few moments, I come to my senses, and the lizard is flailing on the spike impaling it, still trying to break free.  I'm thankful it seems to have pinned it, although the sudden stop of its momentum seems to have made me misjudge where to dodge, and that's what let the lizard land the hit on me with its tail.  My hp is below half now, and my joints ache as I stand up.

I don't know how long the spike is going to hold the lizard in place, so I need to deal as much damage as I can in the mean time.  I hurry as best my body will take me to the lizard and pick up my spear that I dropped mid launch towards the tree.  As I get closer, the lizard struggles more and begins thrashing about.  I keep my distance as best I can, and begin using the spear to stab at the lizard's limbs.  I'm trying to disable it further so that it can't break the spike currently holding it in place.  It struggles and fights as I stab at it, but it seems to be rapidly weakening, so I keep stabbing at it until it finally gives in.

<LESSER EARTH DEMON>
Level: 17
HP: 542/1031
MP: 156/356
Traits: Mana Affinity, Earth Manipulation
Magic: Stone Shaping, Tectonic Sense, Earth Spike