Flashback Respite from the city Part 3

[Karsynwa]

21st of Spring, 490 AV

Taraveth ended up leading them across to the other side of the lake after that. There under the shade of a tree he set his pack down and pulled out a length of wire. “If you are going to survive out there, you’ll want to learn how to make a proper trap to go along with what I’m going to teach you about finding game. Its going to be hard to keep fed otherwise unless you are particularly talented and lucky with foraging. You might be the best damn shot with a bow, but that is not going to bring the prey to you. You are going to need to know what to look for and how to find it to have any sort of success.

We’ll start with how to make some simple traps and then I’ll go into where you want to place them. A length of wire works best for this so think about adding that to your packs before going out. As well as more than a few stakes as you’ll need those to secure your traps as you won’t be finding any sticks out in the grass. First is going to be the simple snare. Each of you grab a length of wire and follow my hands.” Taraveth said, and waited till they each had a length of wire along with a stake. Then slowly as he had with knapping the stones, Taraveth guided them along stringing the noose. Following along, Karsynwa took one end of the wire and guided it over under then paused as Taraveth had to repeat the step again to make sure they all got it right.

It ended up being not overly complicated to string it as it mainly required them to just make a fist sized look in the wire that they tied off by wrapping one end of the wire in a small loop before twisting the end off several times. Then he wrapped the other end around a stake and drove that into the ground with his boot until it was buried deeply into the earth.

“These simple snares are best hung over a game trail, or a den where you know the animal is going to come through. You want the opening to be wide enough for it to fit its head through while walking normally which will require you to know quite a lot about the animal you are after. Once the creature’s head has slipped through, it will instinctively try to escape and the wire will tighten around its neck keeping it firmly in place so long as you drove your stake deep enough. If you don’t got wire, you can make it out of sinew but your prey has a chance of escaping as cordage can loosen around its neck depending on the way its struggling. Wire is best because the mouth stays open and its thin enough to be hard to spot while the animal is moving which is why you are going to place it on a trail or outside of their den.” Taraveth said as he looped his snare over one of the tree’s branches and let it hang down with the mouth about waist hight. “Now that you know how to make a rudimentary trap, we can get into what you need to watch for when setting one of these.”

WC - 561

[Karsynwa]

Tavareth cleared his throat, and took a pull of his waterskin. “The first and most obvious thing you want to look for when setting a trap is tracks and droppings. If you can figure out how fresh these are you can see if a trail is still used, what its used by, and how frequently they pass through it. You can really learn a lot by these two things so pay careful attention everytime you come across them. Old dung will be dry and hard, while old tracks are a little bit harder to determine. You’ll need check under things that might have fallen over them and depending on how long that debris has been laying there use that to help you infer the age of the track. Fortunately dung is usually hand in hand with tracks so you’ll likely have some along the trail to help you narrow it down.

You’ll also want to check the grasses along the trail to see if anything has been feeding. Chewed leaves, or bits of fur caught in the grass are good signs something has been their recently. As you get to be more familiar with hunting, you’ll start to be able to interpret this signs to a higher accuracy and tell what kind of animal left the signs you are after. That will help you volumes with setting a better trap. When you are first getting out there, checking the areas around fresh water is usually a good way to start. Set up in a place you can watch unobtrusively from afar and see where, when and what kind of animals come to the edge of the water to drink. You’ll want to make sure you are down wind of the water source to avoid spooking any of the animals because most have a keen sense of smell. Additionally if you see several spots where the grass has been tamped down like something has lain on it, odds are you’ve come across a bedding site. You can use some of the other signs to determine if it is still in use and plan appropriately.” Tavareth said, pulling down the snare now and holding it out in front of him.

“Which reminds me, you’ll want to make sure you disguise your trap and remove your scent from it. To disguise it, try hiding it behind some tall grass and make sure it is at the appropriate height for your quarry. The next step is a little harder to do. Easiest way to disguise your scent is to smoke your trap, or slather some mud on it. If you find some rotted plant matter, even better as the animals won’t be alarmed by that scent. You will also want to make sure you don’t disturb the site of your trap, so making before hand is pretty important. Gently walk into the spot you’ve chosen and gently walk out. Obscure any tracks you make and don’t touch anything if you can help it. This will ensure you will actually catch something rather then just coming back again and again to an empty trap.” Tavareth said and grinned as he added that last part. Karsynwa smiled back though he couldn’t quite relate with what Tavareth mentioned.

WC - 541

[Karsynwa]

“If you want to increase your odds, place something by the trap that you think the animal might like. This requires you knowing the area well, what grows there and what the eating habits of your quarry are so you won’t get this right at first. Just keep at it, taking notes of what results each time. A good general catch all bait is salt. That is sure to catch the attention of a wide variety of animals so if you want to increase the odds of catching what you are after, place it along a trail they frequent or just outside of their den.” Tavareth said, and picked up his pack to shoulder it. “Now that you know what to look for, its time to go out on a little hunt. Bring your spears.” They packed up rather quickly as none of them brought much in the way of supplies for their outing in Semele park. As they left, Karsynwa looked across the water where the Glassbeak corpse was being carted off by a pair of Akalaks and he wondered idly where they were going to take it. Perhaps skin it, then cook it if the flesh was any good. Karsywa hoped it was as it didn’t feel right to let all that meat go to waste even if it was strange as far as birds go. They didn’t make it quite to the land gate before Tavareth stopped them by an alcove.

Before any of them could register what he was doing, he climbed up into it and reached into a small thatch nest that rested on a slight ledge. Carefully he pulled the nest down, then angled it slightly so the rest of them all got a good look at its contents. There were about six light blue eggs speckled with gold.

“If you find a birds nest while you are out and are thinking about staying in the area for a while, take the eggs but leave two or three of them. The bird will come back to lay more an you can come back for those fresh ones. Oh, and make sure to mark the ones you leave so you don’t grab the old ones by mistake.” Tavareth said as he plucked three of the eggs out of the nest and popped them into a soft leather pouch on his belt. Then after rubbing his thumb on the wall, he marked each of the eggs carefully with a green streak before climbing back up to the ledge to replace the nest. “I know it seems like a bit much, but once your starving, you’ll be glad you know so many ways to fill your bellies while you are out there away from any sort of civilization. Your trial might carry you far away from the city so you need to be prepared to rough it for several days.” Tavareth said before moving on from the alcove. The rest of the journey through the gates went relatively quiet as the students mostly focused on not bumping into one another with the butts of their spears. Karynswa was starting to find them a might unwieldy and looking over at his peers, he could see many of them felt the same. Still there was a definite air of excitement over the group at having another chance to go out into the grass so soon. It sank in finally that this was really happening and that their trails were just around the corner.

WC - 584

[Karsynwa]

They traveled along the Bluevein for quite sometime. Bells perhaps. Karsynwa stopped keeping track. There was too much to see in the sea of grass. He never realized how truly large the Bluevein river was until he traveled alongside. It was running swiftly back towards Riverfall and that made him think of how spectacular it looked falling of the edge of the cliff. There was some white spray now as it coursed over large rocks though that was nothing in comparison to the falls. He did not know where they were going. Where the water was still Tavareth had said. Looking at this river raging along its banks, he found it hard to imagine that they would find such a spot. Wherever they went it seemed to have such energy. Tavareth remained confident that they would find where they needed to go soon and for good reason. After half a bell a piece of the river branched off into a murky creek that Karsynwa couldn’t see the bottom of. Tavareth motioned for them to sit down and then took off his pack. Karsynwa tensed in anticipation.

“Have any of you ever fished before?” Tavareth asked, and after a few nodded, he continued. “Well you will want to if you haven’t already. Fish are a good source of food, and not nearly as difficult to catch as you might find snaring an animal for the first time. Still places like this are a good spot though it is a shame the water is cloudy today. That means the fish are less likely to bite.” Tavareth said with a frown as he knelt by the water. He had a bit of fishing line in his hand and a few hooks beside him. Next he removed a pole that had been strapped alongside his pack. Karsynwa hadn’t noticed that earlier, kind of just saw it as part of that odd contraption on the back of his pack that let him carry much more than the backpack allowed. As Tavareth threaded the line through the rod, Karsynwa made careful note of his movements trying to remember for the next time when he got a chance to try it. He’d have to ask his father for a rod, and didn’t think that would be a problem. His father liked that he was getting out onto the grass. That he was enjoying his experience. An he was. The wild world out here was breathtaking and there was still so much to learn.

Once he had threaded the line through the loops in the pole, he tied off the end of the string around a small metal hook. Then out of a tin can he picked out a large piece of raw fish that he slid onto the hook. “Since its cloudy, we might as well go for any bottom feeders that might lurk beneath. Who knows we might just catch something.” Tavareth said with a light laugh. He stood up and held the rod at an angle to himself before swinging out the line. The hook went with the momentum and continued with the impulse to plop down into the center of the pond.

WC - 528

[Karsynwa]

“Grab me a pair of large rocks.” Tavareth said as he looked over at Karsynwa. Nodding, Karsynwa did as he was told and looked along the edge of the creek until he found a pair of fist sized rocks. When he drew near, Tavareth nodded and gestured to his feet. “Set them down there for me.” Tavareth said. Karsynwa obliged then stood back to watch Tavareth slide the end of the pole between two rocks. Then he shifted the rocks slightly until the pole remained upright without having to be held by him. “If you see the head of the rod dip down before I do, be quick to grab it. Means something took our bait.” Tavareth said, and Karsynwa looked at the pole. It wasn’t moving now but the thought was in his head. His body tingled with anticipation though the edge faded somewhat as Tavareth drew his attention with a small wave.

“Suppose while we wait we can go over one more thing. A word of caution if you are thinking about eating any plants that might look like the vegetables you have eaten back in the city. Be very careful about what you pick, and even if you think something is safe, eat only a very small amount of it your first time trying it. Let it settle for a bell or two before you try eating more because you don’t know how your body is going to react to it. It might be poisonous for all you know as it can be very hard to tell edible plants apart from the non-edible variety.

There are a few characteristics you want to keep an eye out to avoid, especially if since the vast majority of you are inexperienced when it comes to foraging. If you break it open and its got an off white colored sap, its probably toxic. Same goes for if it has a bitter taste to it. If its got spines, hairs, beans or bulbs its likely not able to be eaten. Same goes for if it has seed inside pods, thorns, or its leaves come in bunches of three. Another thing you can do is to crush up the thick stiff part at the base and the leaves to see if it has an almond scent to it. Or look close to see if it has spurs. Black, purple, and pink are colors you want to watch out for. Lastly, if its leafy top looks like a carrot, stay away. Now this is hardly a complete list, but it is certainly something you are going to want to watch out for first and foremost as you start to learn about all of the plants to be found in the sea of grass. This can take years to get right so don’t rush yourself and don’t take foolish risks. If you can avoid using an unidentified plant, do so.” Tavareth said, his tone grave as he looked at them each in turn. Karsynwa nodded slightly before glancing over at the fishing rod. There hadn’t been a bite yet, and there wouldn’t be for the couple bells they lingered in the area. To kill time Tavareth had then wander about the creek on their own though they weren’t supposed to leave his view without letting him know. Karsynwa took his spears with him as he walked along the edge of the creek. There was a lot more to traveling out here than he had known. The thought filled him with a mixture of childish excitement and dread. This was just the start.

WC - 598