The woman stood over her counter, tenderly preparing the vegetables that would soon be put into her stew. She chopped the wild onions, diced the potatoes, and sliced the mushrooms, all of which she’d foraged yesterday.

The woman was short- not dwarven, but short for a human. Her most striking feature was not her height, however, but her fur. From head to paw, she was clad in speckled gray fur, similar in pattern to a tabby cat. She stood on two legs, each of which ended in a soft paw, but her hands were humanoid in design, if one were to neglect their pawpads on the underside. Her ears were pointed and stood up sharply from the top of her head, and her face had a much thicker coat of fur than the rest of her body. Her face had the appearance of a lynx, and her tail was short and bobbed to match.

The woman’s name was Mina Baskerville. She was a Yanu- a lynxfolk- who lived at the edge of civilization at the base of a mountain. She was clad in a poncho of animal hides, which seemed to have been hand-stitched by herself.

Mina is a level 1 Woodcarver. The Woodcarver class gives Mina the ability to cast spells within the domain of nature, giving her access to a versatile sea of magic. Additionally, a Woodcarver can channel magic through a wooden totem, granting it life from the power of the spell, and animating it as a force of nature. Mina has the Nature’s Lore Talent, which allows her to accurately identify all plants and fungi. Mina’s stats are:

STR

6

DEX

16

VIT

16

INT

16

WIT

16

PER

12

CHA

8

LCK

10

As Mina slid the chopped vegetables into the simmering pot of stew behind her, she walked to her cupboard to find herself a meat to add. She opened her cupboard, only to find nothing within.

“Did I-” she asked herself aloud, cocking her head to the side. She attempted to recall the last time she’d gone out hunting, and swore that she went out only two days prior and hunted three rabbits. Certainly, she would still have more?

Mina shrugged, and closed the cupboard doors. Whatever her memories told her, it changed nothing about the emptiness of her pantry. She had no choice but to get more to eat. She retrieved her bow and quiver of arrows from by her door, slung them over her shoulder, and set out into the woods.

The forest she set out into was dense, and rarely ventured into even by the hunters of the nearby village. These woods were considered by many to be far too dangerous, on account of the numerous monsters that prowled within. Despite that, Mina continued to live on the edge of both forest and civilization. She preferred the quiet of the woods to the bustle of even a small village, but was nowhere near foolhardy enough to reside within.

Mina reminisced on her early days in this village, when she had first arrived, and how the village men offered to build her a small house at the edge of town in return for her continued wisdom and protection of the village. That was nearly four years ago, when she was still a wandering medicine-trader, and compared to then her life as the village healer could not be more luxurious.

Mina slowed her pace as she heard twigs snap underfoot. She was not the one who had snapped them, and that set her on high alert. Best case scenario, it was a deer; worst case…

Dexterity Check: 10

Mina passes.

Mina ducked behind a nearby tree, and poked her head out from behind in the direction of the sound. She breathed a silent sight of relief at the sight of a mother and child deer, both of which were on high alert as they scanned around for predators. After a pause of silence from both sides, the deer once again knelt down to graze upon the grass below.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Mina withdrew her bow, notched an arrow, and pulled it back. She did not aim for the deer; she did not have to.

Mina casts True Strike

An advanced spell that imbues a weapon with a will of its own. Grants an attack auto-aim and auto-crit, guaranteeing a critical hit on a target.

With the silent hum of magic as a helix of green energy coiled across the arrow, Mina drew the bow back as far as it could to maximize the strength of the bow. She released it, and the arrow sailed out, whizzing through the air in a direction far from the two deer. The air coiled through the air as it flew, circling around numerous trees like a serpent as it rode the currents of magic Mina had imbued it with. At last, the arrow found its mark, and sailed into the skull of the deer. The fawn lept to its feet, and dashed away.

Mina carried the corpse of the deer back to her home. There was certainly no way she would be able to eat all of this before it rotted; she considered giving half of it to the villagers nearby. She caught herself as she approached her small shack- she heard noise inside.

Mina dropped the carcass onto the ground, and approached the building in a low crouch. She thought for a second, how funny it was, to sneak towards her own home like this. She silently approached the window, and poked her head up and gazed into her own kitchen.

Hunched over her pot of stew was a large, bony, ebony humanoid. Its skin stretched taught over its thin muscles, and at its elbows bone poked out from beneath. Its hideous maw lacked lips, instead baring its sharp teeth, and its yellow slitted eyes bore down into the pot. The monster shoveled stew out from the pot and into its mouth, ravenously slurping up the broth with disgusting avarice.

Mina withdrew a wooden totem, shaped like a hawk, from a satchel around her waist.

Mina casts Thunderstorm

Mina glanced into her home, and at the numerous knicknacks, keepsakes, and personal belongings within.

Better not… she thought to herself.

Mina casts Snakebite

An advanced spell that summons an ethereal snake to bite a target. Inflicts damage from the bite, as well as a lingering poison.

Woodcarver: Mina channels Snakebite

The wooden totem hummed with green magic, and the wood rapidly transformed into muscle and scales. Within a short amount of time, Mina found herself holding a winged snake. She smiled, and kissed it on the head, then opened the window and flung it in.

The snake lunged at the monster’s throat, correcting its trajectory midair through use of its wings. The monster was wholly unprepared, and the snake’s fangs embedded in its throat. Its veins burned as the serpent venom coursed its way into its system, and the monster reeled back in pain, grabbing for the snake with its bony hands.

Mina kicked down the door to her house, and notched an arrow. The monster ripped the snake from its throat, and opened its mouth to devour it, only to be interrupted by a swift arrow embedded in the back of its throat. The monster staggered backwards, gasping at the arrow.

Mina casts Aspect of Cactus

No fewer than thirty arrows flew through the air, embedding themselves all in the monster. A few missed their mark, forming a comical outline of the monster’s figure. The monster was hurled backwards against the wall by the force of the arrows, and collapsed there, bleeding its sickly yellow ichor onto the floor of her home.

Mina approached cautiously, fearing that it may still be alive, as her serpent flew up and coiled itself upon her shoulder. She knelt down next to it, withdrew a hunting knife from her satchel, and prodded at the flesh of the monster. It gave away readily, pouring more yellow pus-like blood onto the blade.

“A Ghoul?” she asked aloud, scrutinizing the monster. “And during broad daylight, no less. I’d better report this…”

Ghouls are monstrous humanoids that eat everything they can get their hands on, with very, very few exceptions. They often hunt alone, but if threatened or when faced with scarcity they will occasionally band together- if they don’t cannibalize each other first. Most notably, they are nocturnal, due to their sensitivity to sunlight. For a Ghoul to be active during the day… Mina hoped it had simply taken cover under the canopy of the forest.

Mina arrived in town, and made her way to the town hall with haste. Her arrival was something of a major event- the townspeople murmured as she strode through the streets, carrying behind herself the corpse of a Ghoul as it roasted in the sun. Some of the younger villagers attempted to approach, only to be pulled back to their parents’ sides.

At last, Mina reached the town hall, and requested an audience with the village’s leader. Her request was swiftly granted, on account of her reputation, and she promptly found herself in front of the village chief, Nadia Stinkbug. A halfling woman with her better days behind her, she was known for her calm and collected demeanor that reminded all of a good mother.

“Well,” Nadia began. “You’ve caused quite the stir. What brings you into our village today?”

“A Ghoul,” Mina replied. “It was in my home, during broad daylight. I assume it used the cover of the forest to avoid the sun. I’ve brought it down here to warn you all.”

“Warn us? Are there more?”

“None that I’ve seen, but one can never be too cautious. I’d suggest getting all the able-bodied men together, and forming a watch.”

“I’ll take that into consideration. For the time being, we’re lacking the necessary manpower for such an ordeal. If anything, the best we can do is a night watch.”

“That will be fine. I can keep watch over the forest during the day.”

“Perhaps you will… but perhaps, you will not.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Nadia withdrew a letter, an elegant piece of writing upon the most gaudy stationery either of them had ever seen.

“A letter, for you. From the looks of it, it seems important.”

“Maybe… but I can’t-”

“If you need to go, go. We got along fine before you, remember. And once you’ve done whatever you need to do? Well, you’ll always be welcome back here.”

Mina smiled and nodded as she opened the letter.