Living In The Great Ring, Gulgrea Lanbruk

[Poolson]

[Before this book is put on sale, a sending is made.]

"For ages past, it has been our way to avoid the written word - to lay the lessons of the past to our Praise Singers, for their words to give them vigor and power, and give blossom to the seed of knowledge in the listener's hearts. As the days continue to change, I must break from this tradition. Not just for myself, but, for the outringers who come.

I have written a book. If you are new to The Great Ring, and are unfamiliar with the lay of its land, you will find 'Surviving The Great Ring' for sale in the Souk of the city Ephia's Well. It will guide your way, where city walls and wagons seem so distant. It would be good for you to read it."

Living In The Great Ring

Gulgrea Lanbruk

To survive, improve and prosper. To live without a spellbook.

Water:

Water

You can live two days without water. It is important you know where to draw water, This is not as hard as it seems, yet it is still of great importance.

Seek greenage, or walk along dried river beds and dig down. There is still a water table beneath, that is giving life to what is grown. If you have time still, but are failing to find water, watch an animal in the wild, for they will do as previously instructed, and know its source.

If your water source is contaminated, the steps to take it are simple. Sand, when tightly packed, can separate water from contaminant. You will have to run the water through its source at least three to four times, to be certain. After doing this, boil it over a fire, and it is safe for drinking.

Ash that comes from beyond the Great Ring is a harmless contaminant, and does not require purification. In days passed, it would be mixed into waters to sup for aches and pains. It is when it is flung at you at high speeds, that the danger begins, piercing thin metal and wood.

It is not advised to drink from cactus, as when cactus, or its fruit, begins to ferment, its juices can confuse and trick the mind, and can wither the body as if swallowing salt by the fistfull. It is said that some drink it on purpose, to see beyond the air, and know the other side.

Beware that is thick, soupy and unclear. Contaminated by heway hatcheries, or other sources, this water can wither the body from the inside-out, and leave behind carcasses for the hatchlings to feast upon.

It is also not advised to drink animal waste, or your own waste. It is the waste your body is disposing of, to imbibe it is to make yourself sick. Instead, it is better used to moisten your clothes and cool your body during hot days, when drinking water is scarce and must be preserved.

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Food:

Food

Food is abundant, if you know where to look. We begin with bugs.

Bugs are best used as bait, not food. Once cooked, they draw predators. Predators that you can ambush and eat. If you are not in a position to fight larger beasts, these bugs can give you extra time to continue living.

Do not eat Death Midge flies, and avoid Hellfire Wasps as best possible. You will know them by the charcoal color carapace they wear, for in large amounts, they can induce paralysis. Hellfire Wasps can cause mouth and bowel irritation.

Tumblecreep leaves are best used as seasoning but can be consumed. You will know a tumblecreep by its moving roots. Not to be confused with Assassin Vines, with long, black tendril roots, that attempt to entangle and paralyze its victims.

Many plants, their leaves and more can be eaten. If you are uncertain as to what is safe and what is not, await ground squirrels, okapi, or other green-eaters. If they avoid the plant, it is best you do as well.

Food poisoning may not kill you by itself, but as you are getting sick, you are shedding water through waste and vomiting.

Scavengers, such as sandworms and small boar, must be cooked thoroughly, as there is no certainty in their diet, and can carry diseases and parasites that are dangerous to the mortal races. It is sure to dampen the taste, but there is no greater spice in all of the Great Ring like hunger.

Be warned, that it is advised to wash your things, to scrub it free of oils, fats and blood. The smell can attract predators, who will attack you.

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Hunting, Food Continued:

Hunting.

Continuing from the food section, there are many animals that are not so easily baited and require you to hunt it. While you wander the territory, it is important to note that the beast is the second thing you are looking for. An opportunity you take if you have the advantage. The truest gain, is the bedding that they will make for themselves. Okapi, for example, will pad sand and ash out until they have a smooth place they can sleep, usually against a rock or something that can break the blowing of wind against them.

From here, you wait a distance, and take your opportunity when they go to sleep for the night. If their droppings or waste are nearby, you can make use of them to cover your scent.

Once you have your catch, give thanks to it for its sacrifice, before you begin dressing it to harvest its meat. As with most animals, you will want to splay its arms and legs out, cutting to form a complete slit from one limb to the other, then up the neck, before coming to the belly. It is important that you are thin with your cuts as you reach the belly, lest you spill its guts.

Afterwords, remove the hide - most can be done by hand, though some species have tighter skin that may require a blade.


Split the muscles at each limb to lax the tension before amputating, and do so again at the pelvis. Be careful that you do not cut upwards and spill the guts. There, you will want to split the tendon that binds the bones to the pelvis. Once this is done, you cut to the spine, up to the back of the head, and from there, you may harvest the meat across its back to its neck, the meat on its ribs, its heart, liver and tenderloin.

The skin can be harvested for wrapping on a stick, cooking and eating. Its testicles and eyeballs can be pickled, and what remains that cannot be eaten, such as the stomach or the brain, can be used as bait for future catches.

As there will be more meat than there are mouths to eat it, preservation will be required. To do so, build a tripod of sticks, with a place to hang the meats at least two to three feet above the fire. Use the hide of the slain animal to wrap around the tripod while leaving an opening at the top for heat to escape, and mind the fire for at least twelve hours, so that the fire does not grow so hot that it makes the meat tender. The meat should be hard to chew, as leather, but will be slow to rot. Store this food in somewhere that is dry and cool, to slow this process even more.

For the best results, if you can bring it with you, is salt. Once you have bled the meat of all blood, rub the meat in salt until the salt sticks to its surface, then leave it in darkness and cool air for several days, as it bleeds out the juices. It is important that it does not marinate in these juices, for the purpose is to dry them. In several days' time, you will see the meat is stiff and brown in color. Rub and rinse of extra salt and you may eat it at your choice.

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Shelter:

Shelter.

Shelter is vital. At the highest point of noon, and the deep of night, the elements are a threat to the unprotected traveler.

Firm winds can carry stone and sand at high speed, that can slash open skin and wound terribly. It is good to make your body as small as possible to avoid the larger debris, getting against a solid surface, like an outcropping of stone. Protect the face, especially the eyes, and cover with armor, padding or hide, to protect yourself from what comes at you.


Ash, blown in at great speeds, can carve through armor in the way sand against padded tabards, gambeson and steel breastplates could not, further amplifying the need of good shelter. If the light of the sun gradually begins to fade, shadows become less pronounced or the air becomes colder despite the time of day, the onset of a storm may be forming, and it is a crucial moment where you should take stock of your options to take shelter.

Seek caves, ruins, or other places that give halt to the wind.

When not exposed to the danger of ash storms, but you have need of immediate shelter against the cold wind of the night, you can make use of animal pelt or blanket, and a candle or a fire no greater than a match, to maintain warmth until dawn.

To do so, brace your back against a surface, then cast the material over you. While it is in place, ignite the candle, or set the fire. Remember that the kindling should be no more than the width of your fingertips, and not gradually added. So long as the seal holds, the warmth will build beneath the material. Snuff it, when it is warm, and hold until dawn.

In addition, should you see worm holes, you can also use them as cover to break the wind, and cover with the width of a handshield. This should not be used to avoid ash storms, as you run the risk of being buried alive by ash.

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Safety:

Safety.

The mortal races of the Great Ring are targets of beasts, who have long lived beside them. It is not immediately noticeable, as to their whereabouts, but there are telltale signs that they are in the area.

- Cats & Birds -

Nature, even in the Great Ring, makes sound. You hear it all around you, from the birds, to the blowing of the wind, to the scraping of sand against itself as it is blows. On rare occasion and during the late month of Iyar, to the early month of Maribeh, you may hear mating calls, from animals nearby.

It is either the directional, or complete absence, of this sound, that you should keep aware of. Except for the owl, who hoots at all who trespass, birds do not sing when they feel they are threatened. It speaks to a predator bird settling on the nearest bough, or a predator capable of climbing trees, something that felines do to store carcasses.


- Burrowers -

Many types of spiders, as well as worms, are known to settle in what is warm, dark and damp, and the conditions are easily satisfied underground. It is also from these areas, that they like to dig through shallow sand and ash to rise and ambush.

As the wind carries both, and buries these holes over time, it may be difficult to tell if such a nest is in your area. Look for unusual sputterings of ash or sand, that are brought about by kicking legs from beneath, or, if they are a large species, slow your step and feel for small tremors under the earth.

If you have been bit, do not attempt to drain it by mouth but instead wrap it with a wet cloth and elevate it. It is important that the heart is slow, so that the venom does not circulate quickly in the body. Keep the spider, or a piece of it if it is too big, and bring it to a man of medicine. It is advised you heed their words, so that if you are far away from other people, you can take the steps needed to save yourself.

Amputation is a last resort, if you are too far from help to make it in time.

- Canines -

Canines are cowards by themselves, scavengers who hunt only in packs. Hunger can drive them to dare impossible odds and opportunity can provoke them to prey upon the small, like children, halflings and gnomes. You will hear and see them before they attack, howling to one another and acting shy, before they are joined with the pack and attack.

If you are beginning to be surrounded, they can be scared by bright light, and loud noises. A proud posture and a voice filled with anger can ease the nerve of a committed jackal.

It is to be warned, that canines are clever animals and may wait for an opportunity, or seek a blindspot to begin their attack. What one knows, the pack is soon to know.

- Intelligent life -

Intelligent beings, such as ogres, trolls, lizardfolk and humans make noise, the more that are gathered together, amplified by the load they are carrying and any weaponry they may carry with them. They move at the speed of their slowest. They are often wasteful, leaving behind their garbage and waste, or camp sites.

Those that hunt men, will travel as other men do, by road and during sunlight hours. Although it may take you time, you can avoid pursuit by straying from the path, while maintaining the directional bearing of your destination. It is best to travel during the evening, when visibility is low, but your eyes have adjusted to the darkness and you know where best to go.

The greatest danger they pose is not in the obvious of great numbers and cooperation, but small numbers that are agile and capable of giving chase. They will increase their odds from attacking with vertical superiority, distance and with snares, and in a chase, will familiarize themselves with the terrain to split up and box in their target.

They are intelligent and can wait until fatigue sets in, or when it is time to sleep. To best protect against this, consistently change your schedule to make it difficult for them to anticipate an attack. Go to bed at different times, take different paths. It is when your schedule remains the same, that you are at greatest risk of attack.

- The Ash Taken -

There are bodies wreathed in the burning of ash, great in number and in different states of ruin. They are the souls who have been blistered and scattered with ash thrown by a storm, and burn greater with every storm, before finally falling apart and succumbing to brilliant hosts of light. You will know them by the crumbling parts of their bodies they leave behind them, the cinders that linger through the air without kindling to give them life and the bright light that seeps through the cracks of their bodies, or the screaming and groaning that they fill the air with.

Although slow and quickly outpaced, they pose a risk in of their own by being tireless and unstoppable. Their pain has dulled their senses, but not so much that they are oblivious to the world around them. Once encountered, and if they are not destroyed, it is a matter of obstacles between you and them, rather than a matter of distance.

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Health:

Health.

The body wears down in time, and it is important to maintain it before it succumbs to disease and pain.

- Mouth -

To protect from mouth pain, seek tender stemmed plants with firm roots. Mash these roots with a rock until they are flat, then take your sharp object and cut them until they are fanned like a head of a brush. Scrub your teeth with this, to keep away cavities and debris in your gums.

Do not throw away the plants from which you took these roots, because they can dry and be used as kindling, or prepared for rope weaving.

- Hair -

It is advised to run a comb through damp hair frequently, and down to the scalp or chin. This is to dislodge pests such as lice, who will lay eggs and inflict on their host diseases. Do not share headwear and cloths.

- Body -

It is wise to bathe, to prevent lasting illnesses that will creep into sores when they open. As water is to be preserved, it is best to dampen a cloth to rub across the body, then scrub with a coarse surface, such as a rock. This is to shed what sticks to the skin as the day carries on.

When it comes to what you wear, it is best that your things are made wet, then scrubbed with a flat palm of sand, or coarse stone. This is to scrub off what can infect the skin, as well as rid the clothes of fabric stained with the smell of game, so as to protect yourself from pursuing predators.

It is said that the ashfolk of Baz'eel scrub the acid of fruits into clothes, to both give it a better smell, and more deeply purge what lays within the cloth. Sage, grinded down with coarse stone or sand inbetween the cloth, as well.

- Feet -

It is best to wear footwear that is not too small, for the rubbing can wear down skin and open sores. If you wear boots, it is best you wear socks, and change them, as you would bandages. You may wash them the same way you wash other clothes, for repeated use. If you walk along the water often, it is best that you dry them before putting on footwear.

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Tools:

Tools.

Hands are useful, but are made of meat and are doomed to wear as time goes on, and suffer pain. To better serve ourselves, seek rocks. One that is firm and thick for striking, and another that is lighter. To know what you are seeking, tap the thick rock against the other. It will have a distinct "tinking" sound, that sounds as if the sound were traveling through the inside of the rock. For the best results, seek the stones that appears as wax and glass.

Once you have found this, strike the thick rock against the other rock firmly to break off a large, sharp chunk. This you can chip into shape for a consistent sharp edge, for cutting as bladed tool, or for stabbing with a spear tip. You can use this same sharp edge to create a slot into the top of the stick, and fasten it in place with rope you can prepare with plant fiber or hair woven tightly around it.

Tap it gently to break off smaller chunks, which would be of use for ammunition, like arrows.

To keep these sharp, simply rub them through a thin layer of sand sandwiched between rotting wood.

It is also best that you bore a hole into a rock, by slamming the precise end into the face of another thick rock. This will be time intensive, but, one will give way, and when it does, this will be useful for starting a fire.

This rock can cradle another stick. This, combined with a another stick tightly bound with rope, can be dragged across a third flat length of stick to create a small ember. Carefully, you can fit this into kindling, and allow it to settle in. Gentle breath can allow this ember to spread to the rest of the kindling and create fire.

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Navigation:

Navigation.

The invention of the compass has made this much easier, but, in absence of one, or in a place where the earth pulls at metal, and throws the compass arrow into a spin, you can tell the direction by the gathering of hints.

- Observe a crescent moon, and measure from tip to tip. If you are not at the southern edge of The Great Ring, this will form the direction of south.

- Observe puddles, as they are first to dry to the south from the exposure to the sun.

- Observe moss. It grows on all sides, but dry moss is an indicator of more exposure to the sun.

- Observe trees. Many boughed trees, like the sycamore, will have more branches on its south side due to more exposure to the sun. Palm trees bearing coconuts and thick leaves will bend south to absorb more sunlight.

- Observe the stars at night. The polaris star always points north, during the seasons of spring and summer. If you are not at the southern edge of The Great Ring, you can observe it through The Dipping Cup star pattern. From its two edges, look upwards and to the right to spot it. If The Dipping Cup star pattern is not visible, you can look for the pattern of the Bashmukar, that curves like a pronged serpent, or a sideways stretched W from the Common alphabet. The serpent's head is at the bottom, and directly 90 degrees to its head is the polaris star.

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