Day 16
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While things have mostly been in my favor recently, the past day and a half have caused me some worry.
My goblin neighbors are a ticking time bomb. I've no idea how many there are, or if they will suddenly attract the attention of something worse. Cave troll, human adventurers, or other problems that I wouldn't want to deal with just yet.
The passageway deceasing deeper into the ground from my cave is like a gaping maw, devouring any creatures I send down there. I have been slowly pushing my territory into it with my mana, but I feel like I've reached a bottleneck in expansion. The ratio of mana needed to expand and the new ground gained has gotten worse.
There have been a number of casualties amongst my staff. I've lost a couple bats more, and over half my bunnyrats. My remaining mice are all staying home for now as I lost most of them.My bugs seem fine though, their populations are steadily increasing. Benefits of creatures with a short life cycle.
I've got several potential theories that I think may be the cause.
1: Goblins have caught and eaten my rodents while they were out gathering.
2: A bird of prey has caught my bats and possibly some rodents too.
3: Some kind of terrestrial predator walks the forest. Enjoys eating bunnyrats.
4: Something deeper in the cave system caught the scouting rodents I sent down there.
5: My pets are dumb and ate poisonous rubbish.
Good thing I'm relatively smart! I've come up with solutions for each of the problems. Well potential solutions at least. Got to try them first.
1: Feed the goblins something else so they don't hunt. Delicious mushrooms growing on their walls? Why would they leave?
2: Can't hunt it, but poisoning it's food has already proved to be a viable strategy once before.
3: Again, poison. Unless I can lure it into the dungeon.
4: Don't want to deal with this, seal the passage going down.
5: Buy more critters.
I've already enacted solution 4 and 5. Bought a lot more spiders and got them to completely fill up the passage with webs. Restocked some of my lost critters too. Just can't send them out yet.
Now about them goblins. I need to adjust a mushroom for this purpose.
I start with my trusty glowshroom as they are edible and can grow rather large. First I remove the glow, then I give them deeper roots that will regrow the caps if plucked.
Ok good start. I make its flavor closer to red meat and increase its nutrition at the expense of it being slower to grow without mana. That'll do I guess. For cosmetic reasons, I give them a deep brown colour and a thick red liquid that is stored in the cap. A dish is 50% presentation after all. After finishing some other details it's time to name it and add it to the shop.
-Meatshroom: savory fungus, good vegan alternative to steak.
I buy a lot and set them to start growing in the far corner of the goblins' treasure room, and on their heavy wooden door. That thing needs to go so I can continue expanding. I send a steady stream of mana at them to speed up the process and soon they are ripe for plucking. A couple have even sent out spores to further increase their number.
Solutions number 2 and 3 are a little tricky, but I've got some ideas.
I buy some mice and split them into 2 groups of 4. They are cheap so I won't feel to bad if the plan fails. I have the first group roll around on my toadstools until they are covered in spores. The second group gets to have spiders ride them. After feeding the spores with enough mana for them to start growing I send the mice out. Ok that was plan A an B.
Now for plan C! I buy 4 newts and send them out.
Plan D, I buy a huge group of spiders. They are quite useful! I want the trees outside well webbed. Don't want flying enemies to camp my critters spawn point!
Plan E! I'm on a roll here! It's bait and trap time. Now that my entrance passage has been properly trapped I need good bait to attract the enemy.
Food and light. That's how to do it. Assuming my enemy is a carnivorous predator, I buy another mouse and have it just wait by the door. I buy a few glowshrooms and put them nearby as food for the mouse and to catch the predators attention.
Now I just need to wait!
——— POV shift ———
The gleaming eyes of the predator eyed its unassuming quarry. Inching closer one leg at a time. By its side, more of its kind, eager to hunt. One long leg moved too fast.
Twitch! The movement betrayed its location, forcing the hunters to pause.
The quarry froze as it eyed its surroundings, as If sensing the incoming danger.
There! Out of the corner of its eye, a dark shape slunk towards it.
For a brief moment, hunter and hunted looked at each other, before blurring into action.
Darting forward, the prey managed to wounds its attacker, but suddenly it lurched to a halt. Its limbs caught and kept from moving. There was more than one assailant!
Struggling the prey tried to escape the hunters' grasp, but the more it fraught the more it was restrained as sharp fangs pierced its body. Again and again the fangs did their work. Eventually the quarry went limp.
After the battle the hunters claimed their prize and dragged the loser back to their lair.
——— POV - DM Blueberry ———
It's been a couple a hours since I initiated my solutions so I'm watching my front door in anticipation. Now I know I shouldn't be hasty, but I'm excited to see if there has been any progress.
Ah! Problem. What if the poison worked... and there is a dead wolf out there. How do I claim the loot! Nothing I have can carry its body back... What a loss!!!
I'm interrupted by an interesting sight.
Several of my spiders, did I mention they are larger than before? They are about 2-3 inches big now if you include the legs. Now where was I?
Oh right, 4 of my spiders just returned from the forest. Between them, they have managed to drag what looks like a giant dumpling. One of them has lost a couple legs, so it must have been a fight.
The delivery service drops off its package before heading out again. I give them some mana as a tip.They making clicking sounds in gratitude.
Inside the sticky packaging is a small bird about 6 inches long, how do I know? Some bright blue feathers are exposed.
I let the melter do its work and soon I can see it in the shop. My first bird!
-Kingfisher: Small, colorful, dumpy bird. Eats fish and bugs.
Nice!