The toys were quickly finished, even with Hazel and Fern making a few extras of both the rope toy and balls for the cubs. So, Iris could only move onto the second set of toys she had plans for. However, these would require a good bit more work to make, so it was unlikely they would have time for the last of the toys to be made before lunchtime. Still, Iris was quick to explain
"The first thing I'd like to try making is a bubble solution. It is a bit expensive to make, but part of that is due to the limited resources we have. I remember, when I was young, my mother made some homemade bubbles from dish soap, corn syrup, and water. We don't have corn syrup or dish soap here, but, with some experimentation, we can likely make some from a mixture of liquid lye soap, honey or maple syrup, and water.
We will need a container to hold the soap that has a lid that can easily be taken off and put back on again. That part can be made from wood or stone, whatever is easiest. Then, we will need a 'bubble wand' to keep in the container and cover with the bubble solution before blowing air at it to form the bubbles. Basically, a bubble wand is like a stick with a round hole at one end. That will likely be easier to make from wood than stone."
Hazel and Fern both seemed a bit perplexed by what Iris was proposing as the entire idea was foreign to them. However, Hazel felt it was easier to just get to work on his end of things and see if he could figure things out along the way with some pointers from Iris. As he didn't feel like bothering the stone masonry workers today, he decided to just make the prototype version completely from wood. Seeing Hazel get to work, she decided to explain
"Actually, I'd like it if you could try something new for the container today. In my world, we had a sort of screw-on lid that could just be twisted to open it or close it and we used it for everything. It was a pretty simple concept, though, and just involved grooves both on the container and lid that could be matched up in order to seal things."
Iris explained some more details to Hazel as he worked. Meanwhile, Fern had gone off to fetch some prepared honey and maple syrup from home. They didn't have much honey, but Quentin had already dropped off some honey and beeswax from the wild hives he moved the bees over from. After all, it was now the hot season and the bee boxes were already finished, so it was already Quentin's turn to uphold his end of their deal.
When Fern returned, Iris was quick to switch to helping him to experiment with the bubble solution. Most bubble solutions are 1 part dish soap, 1 part corn syrup, and 8 parts water, but that is only when you are working with the proper ingredients, which Iris is certainly not. The liquid lye soap Iris was working with was much less thick and soapy compared to dish soap. Still, it wasn't like any of the mixture was wasted as Iris could just keep adding more of the various parts until she ended up with a solution that worked.
Iris made sure to note the recipe they ended up with on a stone tablet so the product could be recreated later on. While she was at it, Iris decided to include notes on the other toys they were making so there could be a future record of it. She even included any comments Fern or Hazel had since they were more familiar with some aspects of the creation process than Iris was.
After combining the new bubble solution, container, and bubble wand, Iris smiled as she showed the product off. She had already blown some bubbles as she tested the product, but it just felt different with the complete product in hand. The air filled with colorful bubbles and Iris's eyes lit up in amusement as she reminisced on her days as a child where she would happily blow bubbles all summer long.
Iris had made this product as an option for both her cubs and grown beastmen, especially females, to enjoy. While the cubs couldn't blow the bubbles themselves, Iris knew that there were bubbles for pets in the modern world. Dogs and cats alike loved to bite and paw at the bubbles as they floated through the air and it was likely that Iris's young cubs would enjoy doing the same. Luckily, none of the ingredients in these bubbles were likely to be toxic to ingest since it only took water, animal fat, hardwood ashes, and honey to make them. The maple syrup had been a bit too watery when combined with the watery lye soap to make bubbles effectively. However, Iris had a feeling that they could eventually figure out how to make bubbles using the more common maple syrup so long as they made a special batch of both the maple syrup and lye soap, where they were reduced more than usual, just for bubble making.
There was only a short while before lunchtime, so Iris quickly explained the last toy she had an idea for that could both be enjoyed by the cubs and adult beastmen. All the others would likely only be enjoyable for those who had matured and had opposable thumbs, unfortunately. Those toys, however, would be made later that night.
"So, the other idea I had is something called a 'frisbee'. Similar to the bubble, the cubs can only enjoy it when they are playing with an adult, but it should be fun for adults to play with as well. It is basically a rounded disk that is somewhat flat about this big around. It does have edges that come down, though, to make it easier to hold. The basic principle behind a 'frisbee' is that it is thrown with a flick of your wrist like this and then it soars for long distances through the air. It is important that it be lightweight, but it needs to be solid. So, I think making it from wood would be ideal."
Hazel nodded as he felt this task sounded simple enough. However, he was quick to note
"I will need to smooth it out too then. I'm guessing the cubs would be carrying it in their mouths as well, so there is no point in taking risks. I think that we will need to have some outdoor space reserved for such activities, though, as I can't imagine it would be good to play with a frisbee indoors."
Iris nodded as she thought Hazel's words over. Perhaps she ought to plan for them to make a park in the business district alongside the combat arena they needed to build this year. It was likely to require a lot of work to make the combat arena and the long roads between their city and the other two locations they'd have trade routes with. Iris was grateful that she had fifty workers joining their city just to help build roads. It was unlikely they could manage to complete everything if they didn't have more capable workers joining them.
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Last chance call! There's only 20x chapters left before volume five and this series ends on my Patreon! That's about one month from now. I'll also be posting the fifth volume PDF downloadable copy the week after the chapters finish posting, so you can own a PDF of all of the volumes.
After everyone currently subscribed cancels, I plan to do a major overhaul on the Patreon. I'll be deleting all the chapters and bonus content, only leaving the PDF copies and exclusive side stories remaining. These will all be filed under the same collection for ease of access. However, I will be doubling the price to $10 as I'll basically be selling digital copies of the full series instead of early access to chapters. That's roughly $2 / volume, which is still a bargain for a copy you get to keep forever!
Anyway, the current price is $5 / month, so this is your last chance call to get everything my Patreon has to offer for the current price. This includes:
Ad-free reading of all of the older chapters
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A 2024 printable calendar
End of chapter shout-out
Exclusive Discord role
Plus there is the following content, which is available for free and open for anyone to enjoy:
Monthly Newsletters
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Author’s Notes
A special thanks to the following Patreon subscribers:
Cubs: Fictional F., Ryanna B.
Beasts: Ann, Argon, Austin J., Byloderus, Care, Catherine W., Cheyenne O., Chong Y., Cindy S., CooCoo C., Courtney H., Denise G., Dreamer, Emma B., GeminiDragon, Gracie, InjaP., Izzzy B., Jasmine H., Jenn L., Kayla N., Kelly, Lisa C., Martina I., Michelle S., Michelle W., Miranda M., Myungjun R., Nova H., Nyrobi J., Nyxie N., Parul N., Reyanne B., Rochelle N., Satya P., Shaunna H., Shawna B.
Lovely Beasts: Dagoon320, David Z., Doc., Juha, Killer K., Nick T., Sboss678, ScorpioPerk, Steven B., Travis S.
Patreon Link: patreon.com/AutumnPlunkett
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Her Beasts Volume Four
RomanceVolume Four [Updates Weekly] Iris Hart has survived an entire year in the Beastworld and is beginning to find her place in it. Now that she has started to build her own city, she has to continue to expand and build defenses to protect it. Follow Iri...
