A few hours later, I was completely and utterly depressed. My job was simple; hunt one deer and return it home in order to make leather. The problem was twofold, number one I had no idea how to fire a bow and number two I had no idea how to hunt. Add to this another issue, that probably the entire forest heard me trampling through the trees, I was utterly devastated, depressed, and Justifyingly so.

I had a nagging buzz in my head, which appeared to be my father’s quest, but it was completely illegible, focusing on it caused my head to start hurting. I am pretty sure that the quest would actually help me and make my job easier but that was off the table, hopefully my father would have some answers by the time I was back. I was really anxious that I would come back with the quest completed though, it was not a guaranteed thing at all.

I kept trudging through the forest, my footsteps were very loud, I did not know how I could solve that, think about it. Dwarves are naturally heavier than Humans due to our thick bones and muscle density, however our feet were smaller than human feet which meant that every step was heavier due to more weight on less surface area. Probably the moles underground were having earthquakes on their heads, mole city destroyer they called me down there.

I stopped my forest treading to clear my mind. I had to get it together quickly or I would surely fail. I opened my pack and pulled out a carrot and started munching on it. Sitting silent hearing my own chewing mouth I realized I had to come up with a plan. Thoughts were going through my mind haphazardly, how far does carrot chewing sound travel, or dwarf footfalls. Even if I could sneak up on a deer silently and get in range, I had no guarantee that I would be able to hit with my arrows, somewhere in my mind I had an inkling that figuring out how to shoot a bow was not out of my reach. Sitting silently with my thoughts just wandering back and forth an idea started to form. I believe that I had the beginnings of a plan.

First I would have to learn how to shoot a bow, finding a place to learn this skill was step one, without further adieu, grabbing my pack, I went searching for a small meadow to practice.

After an hour or so I finally found a place that would be perfect, it looked like a dried out pond. There were trees growing around the edges with a smattering of bushes, however there was a clearing about the size of a small field in the center with lush green grass growing. It was actually beautiful and had a calming effect on my mind and emotions. I unhooked my pack and got down to business.

I walked to one edge of the clearing and cleared my mind for the task at hand. I unhooked my bow from my shoulder and tested the bowstring a few times, it was harder than it looked. Not that it was an issue for me, but I imagine most humans would have a hard time pulling this bow. Pulling an arrow out of my quiver I placed the end on the string, pulling the string back I let fly towards a tree trunk on the opposite side of the clearing.

Unsurprisingly my arrow was off the mark and landed in the grass with the arrowhead buried in the soft ground. I quickly tried again, with only marginally better results, meaning I hit the bottom of the tree trunk and the arrow fell dully off the tree trunk.

Let’s keep plugging away at the task, what other choice did i have? I pulled another arrow from the quiver and lined it up, pulled the string back and let loose. Once again I hit the lower part of the tree, the arrow bounced off with a nice little thump. I guess there was improvement, regardless, something felt off. Maybe my motion wasn’t right. I started experimenting with my draw, pulling in different ways, not really different, but subtly different. I tried using my shoulders, my back, and other combinations of muscles. Not sure if my hunch was right or not, but I kept trying. Time was slowly ticking away, the sun’s zenith was closer to the horizon than noon, I found myself repeating the same actions over and over. Fire all my arrows in the quiver at the blasted tree, go to the tree, collect my spent arrows, return to my original spot, and start again. Close to sundown, I finally felt something click in my mind. I placed my arrow on the string and instead of pulling the string back, I lifted the arrow to my ear and using my shoulders and back muscles I pushed the bow forward, the instant it was drawn all the way I let loose. I was rewarded with a dull thump, running forward I saw that my arrow was in the trunk, albeit on the lower part and far from the center, but it was hanging. Gloriously hanging, I pressed my face close to the tree and I could tell that the arrow was embedded in the trunk at least a few fingers.

[s5%h34 ^32##%....]

My head started splitting, I realized that something was wrong with my Pathway, it was pretty obvious what happened. I learned the archery skill and my Pathway wanted to notify me. Except that my Pathway was broken. I think I retained the skill though but clearly I was in trouble.

Well anyway, nothing I could do about that, I had to hope my parents had an answer when I returned.

Time to move on to phase two of my plan, I quickly realized while treading through the forest that my footfalls were so loud, probably all the nearby animals heard me way before I had any chance of seeing them. It was impossible for me to pick up the skill of a tracker in a day or two. My plan called for me to lay in wait for a deer to pass me by, then let loose an arrow hoping to injure it enough that then I could chase it down. I did not know at the time yet that there was value in where you placed your shot, in terms of leather making.

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I figured that I needed to find a source of water where the animals would come to drink. My plan was to find a river and walk along its banks until I found clear signs of animal footprints near the water; most herbivores had their little routine. It sounds funny but it is true, they would go to the same watering spot, sleep in their little area, and grazed in the same range.

The problem was that it was already close to sundown and animals are not thirsty at night, or at least not very much. They would bed down for the night and that required me to find a place to sleep safely, but first I had to find the proper spot, and quickly. Basically I was going to ambush a deer.

I collected all my arrows, grabbed my pack, and started to run at a steady pace through the forest looking for a river or small lake. The shadows of the trees were starting to fade away, a clear sign that the day was almost over, I quickened my pace. As nightfall fell, I finally found a promising spot. There was a small creek that was slowly flowing by, it was a spot where the creek appeared to widen which caused the water flow to slow. There were signs of animals on the ground, stool as well hoofprints. I glanced around looking for a promising spot, I needed a place that I could hide and the animals would not see me, in addition they could not be allowed to scent me or they would bolt. The harder challenge was hiding my scent, trying to wrack my brain for an idea I got a mental notification.

[ds788&^%w@4f%....]

“Thror’s balls,” I let out a curse, this was getting crazy, however despite the headache, the idea was in my head formed and ready to be implemanted. I would climb a tree and sleep in the branches. In the morning I would settle down and wait for my prey to approach the creek to drink, that would be my chance.

Quite some time later I was nestled snugly with a small blanket in the branches of an oak tree, munching on half a loaf of bread which my Ma packed for me. There were also a few small radishes and kohlrabi. I ate the vegetables with the peel of course, I wasn't gonna start peeling in the dark.

After eating I tried to get comfortable and sleep. I am sure that there were wolves around here somewhere, but thankfully they could not reach me. I leaned back and closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest and the creek, every little sound felt magnified; it was so dark and quiet, a far cry from my home and the village near us. During the day the hammer ringing was constant and at night Ma just wouldn't stop prattling until everyone just fell asleep mid sentence. My thoughts wandered as I felt sleep take me over, it was a long day, my body was tired, with my last thought about the new skill i learnt I finally fell asleep.

I woke in the morning to bird chirping and the sound of branches breaking. I glanced out of the corner of my eye without moving and saw a magnificent stag, a real prince of the forest. My first thought was to go for my bow, but thankfully logic prevailed. It was really a few things which made me hesitate, firstly I was not sure my arrows could actually penetrate the stag’s hide. Secondly even if it did, it would only be a flesh wound. Thirdly, say I would hit a vital dpot on stag’s body, it would take a couple days to bring him down. Finally I was not sure, my conscience allowed me to kill this magnificent creature. However I was elated that my plan actually worked, I guess that also explained the reason why I now felt a buzz in my mind. I would try to remember to ask my father about it. Thinking it over, I came to the conclusion that I would bide my time until a more suitable target would come my way.

***

“Godrin, I am very nervous about Godrak,” Bonmora told her husband, after she finished her morning chores.

“Nonsense, why; it took me four whole days until I got back from my own hunt”, Godrin replied looking up from the screws he was examining.

“But what about his Pathway, he doesn't have help from Pathway because… well I don't know why”, Bonmora was nervous, she was a smart woman, she knew how much the Pathway helped people and they grew to rely on it. Whether it was quest locations or optimizing a skilsl and fighting styles, the Pathway was the deciding factor in people's lives. Godrak’s Pathway was being blocked for some unknown reason. Priest Gotthard Reldret had said that he needed to examine Godrak to figure what was ailing Godrak, otherwise there was no sure way to know exactly what the problem was. Suffice to say that Bonmora, as a good dwarven mother, was fretting non-stop and barely slept last night from worry.

The day passed agonizingly slow as if it was deliberate, eventually Godrin relented and agreed to have Beatrice watch the treeline. Bono, as she was called by her friends and husband tried to find things to occupy her mind, suffice to say she was unsuccessful. She even went so far as to clean out the latrine behind the house, the worst type of housework imaginable. Nothing worked.

Godrin was in his shop tinkering, he was pretty confident in his son and the Dwarven blood in his veins. The Dwarves of Erel were not new to hardship, of all the races, the dwarves were the most prosecuted and hunted by their bitter enemies the Orcs of the land. There was only one dwarven kingdom left in Erel, The Kingdom of Brefalls. The Kingdom of Brefalls wasn't one of the great powers of the land, rather a small sized kingdom which survived due to its smaller size and incredible defensive terrain. The entire kingdom sat in the mountains, the only way in was though the capital of Brefalls, Brefalls Citidel, which was nigh on impenetrable.

These musings did not bring Godrak back faster though, so Godrin just shook his head to clear his errand thoughts and continued his tinkering while waiting to hear the sounds of a successful hunt.

Beatrice was slowly meandering around the treeline picking flowers, humming a dwarven melody. After a small stroll she sat with her back against a tree picking the petals off a sunflower. She lifted her head at the sound of a rustle in the bushes nearby, she squinted trying to see into the brush, when a small bunny came out. A smile came to her face as she saw the little fluffy bunny. She started making little cooing sounds trying to get the bunny to approach her, unsuccessfully sadly.

“Come here little bun-,” her words cut off as she thought she heard sounds of heavy breathing heading her way. She quickly stood up, she could not believe her eyes, there was Godrak walking heavily, a deer carcass draped around his shoulders. Her eyes met Godrak’s eyes and he gave her a small smile, off she was running towards the house hollering at the top of her lungs “MA, DA, Godrak is here, he did, he did it”.