Rebuilding Science in a Magic World

There were two benefits in waiting for the goblin envoys.  The first benefit was that we had the chance to have the trade items approved by all parties.  I probably wouldn't need to for things like this, but building the goodwill back up is done in small steps like this.  The second benefit is that they can help carry all the stuff back down the mountain with Zeb.  Ultimately, Zeb will need help bringing all that rope back up the mountain though.  We don't know yet if they'll accept everything as enough trade materials though.

I sent the envoys and Zeb back with all the items we thought of, the scissors set, machete, plates, and some basic cutlery.  If it's enough, then Zeb should try to get some help to bring the rope to the depot about half way up the mountain tomorrow, and come get me, so we can use some carts to haul the wood up.

Well, Zeb came back pretty early, courtesy of the new path making the trip a lot faster, and he was pretty excited.  He said we needed to get the two carts down to the depot as soon as possible.  I was surprised by how enthused he was to go haul wood, and shortly after we set out.

When we got to the depot I saw why he was in a rush to haul things.  There were a bunch of goblins standing about at the depot.  I recognized most of them as either craftsgoblins from the village, or goblins who helped with the path's construction.  They all apparently wanted to see the cart system in action, and helped haul the rope so that they could witness the maiden usage.

It took short while to run rope all the way up to the winch, and tie it off to a cart, but once it was attached, I was glad to see the rope hold up as the cart was allowed to roll slowly down the slope with the help of the winch.  Then once it was loaded up with wood, I slowly winched the cart all the way up the section of the path.  Once I saw that it worked once, and we unloaded the cart at this level, I invited the other goblins to each try it with some supervision.

We only made it about half way up the distance to the cave by the end of the day due to how many cartloads of wood we were hauling, but the goblins all seemed impressed when they left.  A big benefit of having this is that it actually works just as well with two people as it did with all of us.  They were all mostly there to just watch and give it a try themselves.  In the long run, this should allow large amounts of materials to be moved up or down the mountain by relatively few people.

With the wood hauled, and the path done, I've decided to go explore the second valley on the island.  Considering its proximity to the valley that the goblin village is in, I fully expect the biosphere to be similar.  I'll probably be gone for a week or so.  Getting there through forest and jungle will take a little while, and while I'm there I want to document any extra points of interest that I find while within it.

Given it's still the start of the month, I fully expect to return before the goblin envoys return up the mountain.  I personally don't have any projects that seem so urgent that I need to have Zeb work on them, so I'm leaving him with no instructions on what to work on, and I've told him he's free to work on whatever he wants while I'm gone.  I'm taking a spear, my backpack, some lightstone tablets for recording anything interesting I find, and a few days worth of food.  I'm thankful at times like this that my species seems to need significantly less water than a human would, or else I'd need to bring water along as well.

Two days in, and I've found my first point of interest in the second valley that is worth recording.  This valley has a larger stream than the other valley does.  I found it thanks to the sound of a waterfall that falls around one hundred feet before continuing as a stream.  Based on the fact that the island is volcanic in origin, I'm pretty sure that this sheer cliff, along with some of the ones in the other valley, were probably caused by massive landslides.  It's probably the reason there is a whole valley here honestly.

Thankfully, this island seems to be volcanically dead, as the entire peak of the island is heavily eroded.  In the years I've been here, I haven't noticed a single earthquake as well, so I'm guessing that the odds of a major landslide occurring are pretty slim.  Mudslides on the other hand, well, I've seen a few of those, and they're a real threat.  Without electronic systems, trying to develop seismology to get a better understanding of the actual risk is practically impossible.  So for now, I'll just enjoy the beautiful view of this waterfall, and the small clearing underneath it.  I think I'll follow the stream to the ocean, in case I find anything else interesting along it.

I didn't find anything particularly interesting along the entire path of the stream, despite it taking two days.  It eventually flows into the ocean, and this valley doesn't have much of a bay.  To the right, there are some cliffs, which I believe to be the cliffs that go around the left side of the bay at the end of the other valley.  Unfortunately, despite the stream on this side having more water flow, there isn't a good clearing to build a village easily.  Not that one couldn't be made, just that there would have to be a lot of terraforming to build buildings.

From what I can tell, this valley is very similar to the other one, and although I haven't seen any of the giant lizards here, I did catch myself one of the ground birds that the goblins eat, and it made a pretty good meal.  The trees and other small wildlife are all pretty much the same.

Since this valley is a bit lopsided, with the stream and deepest point actually being closer to the side next to the other valley rather than the center, I'm going to take a long route home, and head up the other side some before returning.

Although it isn't an individual point of interest, I did realize one thing that may be beneficial.  For the last two days, I've been walking back along the far edge of the valley, and I've noticed the slope is here is actually quite a bit more gentle than in a lot of other areas.  While that initially may not be useful, if it continues for much longer, I'll be at an altitude where lion root grows.  If that is the case, it might be possible to easily grow large amounts of it over here, even more so than the area intermediate between the cave and the goblin village.

Over here, I think the slope is gentle enough that you wouldn't even need to terraform in places, so just about anyone could do it.  All this is to say, if Zaka were to keep expanding the goblin village, or wanted to make a second village, there are places that could work, especially if there is ground water that could be tapped into with a well.

The slope did continue to be gentle into the altitude where lion root started to grow, and I ended up harvesting quite a bit and putting it in my backpack for the remaining day of travel back to the cave.  When I returned to the cave, I found Zeb harvesting some spuds, and started to give him a rundown on what I'd seen, although none of it was particularly important all things considered.  Honestly, once I've finished exploring the island, I might consider making a map, and putting it in my house.

After telling Zeb about the things I'd seen, I asked him, "What've you been up to, other than tending the spuds?"

Zeb replied, "Oh, well, I actually went down to the depot you made and started cutting down some more trees in the area."

I raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "Any particular reason for that?"

Zeb responded, "Well, it feels like I'm not able to do enough, or at least as much as I'd like to given my levels and the fact I'm a goblin, so I wanted to level up."

I sat and thought about this for a little bit.  It'd honestly be a big help if he was evolved again, but I also don't want to encourage clear cutting, I've already made that point in the village.  After thinking I spoke up, "Alright, I'm fine with it on two conditions.  First, I need to go down, and teach you a bit about forest management, so that you don't end up causing serious damage.  The second condition is that you don't waste wood.  If the storehouse up here needs expanded to store more of it, then you need to do that.  In addition, charcoal lasts a lot longer than wood, so I'd encourage you to turn most of it into that.  If you need my help with any of it, let me know."

Despite the conditions, Zeb seems pretty excited.  I suspect seeing a few of the goblins in the village evolve after the siege has made him antsy to do so himself.  Well, considering everything, having extra charcoal can't hurt, probably.