It Started with Slime - Part 1

Interlude XII - Haemish, Exploration Exhaustion

A week had passed and their daily foraging trips into the forest had yielded amazing results. Haemish couldn't believe how much ground he could cover with help.

"Another great haul, lads!" Haemish whistled as they stored the various components in the cubbyholes in the lab.

Cry-All Mushrooms were a deadly poisonous mushroom that oozed a creamy substance that could incapacitate even that largest of beasts. It was deadly to humans in even the smallest doses. The roots in counterpoint were a cure to most deadly poisons. They had managed to harvest a whole troop of mushrooms, almost fifty all told and the amount of sap collected had been in the litres. They really do ooze a lot Haemish reflected.

Panther Fur was a rarity as well, while they had not manage to encounter the predator on this trip it had left some tuffs of fur about here and there and the shiny fur and feathers could be fashioned into an incredibly sturdy bit of armour or very warm coat. Also the glossy texture had been known to elicit a pretty price in the market place from the right buyer. The difficulty of gathering was the main reason it was so valuable. I had to be collected while the Panther was still alive or else it would lose its sheen and collecting leftovers was a small prize for stalking in the hunter's territory.

Ironite Ore, metals were a rarity in the forest and with there being so few mines in Darf rare overall in the country. Forced to trade with neighbouring nations for metals had pushed up the price of these precious materials. Consequently, when metal was found in Pleutr Forest, it was worth hanging on to. The purity was hard to determine and so the value would be hard to know...unless you happened to have a Blacksmith with you. Haemish had tossed the rock to Marteen and ask him to check what the Iron content was.

"Not much in here I'm afraid, Mr. Haemish, about two or three Darfals worth." Not an exact answer but he would take what he could get, it was a reasonable amount. The currency in Darf was broken down in to Fractals and Darfals. 100 Fractals to a Darfal. Then it was 100 Darfals to a Frystal, but Haemish had only seen about 10 Frystals in his long lifetime, they were rare and most commoners would not see more than a few Darfals in their coffers in a lifetime. Not that they were poor, just that costs were counted in Fractal for common items. A loaf of bread or a bowl of broth would come in at a reasonable 5 or 10 Fractals. Villagers and townsfolk would commonly exchange part fractals for transactions of smaller denominations where things were cheaper.

"Thank you Marteen, we will just keep it. You never know when it will come in handy!" Marteen tossed it back and Haemish stored it in his spatial pocket. "Onward, gentlemen!"

They had continued to forage and found a lot more but they were all more mundane things, of lesser value. It was still worthwhile to gather in Haemish's estimation, as a way to refill his destroyed supplies. After a couple of week of foraging in the forest their supplies were running low, food and water were easily made and acquired from the forest. But other things like bandages from scraps and empty vials, jars and other containers that made collection possible were starting to run out. They would be able to get more from Flue but would need to make the trip there to get them. It annoyed Haemish to have to go back there, after years of living in the forest as he had being back made old habits surge to the fore. The aversion to human habitations and more crowded areas, even as small as Flue was.

It was not the same this time, having Taler, Marteen and Rion along for this ride had done much to normalise being around people but it still rankled a little. Now was not the time though. It was just a necessary evil of foraging. He had to go into the village from time to time in the past as well, just less often and certainly not every two weeks. He could not stop a sigh from escaping his lips.