CHOP, CHOP, CHOP. The sound of something hitting a tree rings out through the swamp.

What anyone approaching would see was not what they'd expect; rather than a kimeti whacking at a tree with his hooves, this one was gripping some kind of object in his teeth, chopping at the wood at an angle. The took was roughly stick-shaped, with a block of razor-sharpened stone attached to it, and off to one side was another tool, lined with animal jawbones in a serrated pattern.

Off in a pile, there are actually more of these odd tools laid around.

"If you want to help, you can." the kimeti stag says to anyone who approaches. He is long, elegant and clearly one of the legendary creatures known to reside in the swamp. He has various open wounds across his body, which look raw and painful, but he doesn't seem to pay them any mind. "I'm clearing this place. I'm going to create a safe place where kin can leave their foals when they are out and about and raise them with joy and laughter."

"I've found a good way to bring down trees. You cut a v from the tree on one side using a combination of the ...jaw and the chopper. I'll teach you."

If you want to help Will clear trees, this is a little rp where you can. It's not a GM rp, just a little task to work towards and chat/rp while we do.

Roll 1d10 to see how your kin does, for every 10 rolled, that's a tree down.

Even if you don't like Will, it's a fun place to learn how to chop down trees using rather new tools, and if a kin is nice or barter with the crazy inventor kin, they might get to keep one!

Consume had been attracted by the odd sound, his curiosity drawing him to investigate. He paused within sight range, watching the other buck doing ... what? When the other turned to him and explained, the explanation didn't help a lot; but Consume's eyes flicked from the buck to the objects he had nearby, then to the tree under attack. "Looks like a beaver gnawed at it," he observed.

"Exactly the same principle!" Will announced. "You dictate which way the tree will fall by how you unbalance it. Step to your left, if you would," he said.

And with that, he shoved with his forelegs, making the tree creak in protest and tumble to the ground, giving it a thrilled look as it did.

"See? It's a reshaping measure, no longer relegated solely to beavers."

Consume may not have been aware of it, but as he'd wandered off in search of the source of calamitous noise, he'd been fallowed from above by a very bright song bird with a broad fan of colorful feathers on their tail. As he stopped, listening to the lanky buck speak, Merry let out a soft chirrup before swooping down to land at the base of one grey ear, watching the other with intent, orange eyes.

baneful wrote:

prolixity wrote:

Consume stepped to the left, watching with interest as the tree was felled. "You're clearing space, then?" he asked. "What're you going to do with the trees that come down?" He moved over to nose curiously at the tools set to the side. "Clever way to do it," he mused. "Wouldn't have thought of imitating a beaver, but it makes sense."

He lifted his head again at the sound of a familiar chirp, felt the rush of air and the flutter of wings and the delicate weight of a bird, and grinned. "Hello there," he said to the "bird" who'd landed on him.

Baneful wrote:

Beejoux wrote:

Story had been clearing underbrush that was threatening to be a problem the next time there was a fire- His hope was that he could replant viable bushes in spots where the land was barren and threatened to be an issue should they experience another huge flood. Something to keep the land from sweeping away with the water.

That's when he heard the wooden ringing sound.

He followed it and as he came to the tree line his mouth turned down ever-so-slightly.

When the tree the rabbit-eared buck was doing something to fell his mouth turned down not-even-remotely-slightly.

"Whyyyy," he tried to breathe through his anger and stepped out into the growing clearing, "would you not find a less destructive way to meet your goals?"

The bird got a fleeting glance from Will, and he smiled slightly. "What a bright little creature," he said; the little bird had a lovely tuft of tail feathers that weren't like anything he'd seen before. However, his attention remained on Consume as he nodded. "Yes, I need a safe clearing for my caring spot for foals, and this spot is perfectly situated."

When asked what they did with the felled trees, he perked his rabbit-like ears and hopped over to scoop up one of the strange tools with the fixed jawbones. "We take them apart the way we might with food and keep the pieces dry."

"Here, hold the other side in your teeth. You pull it hard across the wood, and it slices it like chewing on a bone. I think it's efficient to start with the branches first?"

Will glanced up from what he was doing as Story arrived, raising a brow.

"There are plenty of trees," he said. "Infinite numbers of them. We eat prey. We can use the trees." He winked.

"Don't worry; no one will start "jawing" pieces of you off anytime soon. You can keep your branches."

Baneful wrote:

Prolixity wrote:

LOLLI qAq wrote:

Consume nodded slowly, considering that thought. Keeping dry wood ... he supposed it could be used to pile up like a beaver dam should someone need to dam a stream, or like dry branches to fuel fires for warmth or cooking with a salamander. "I could work on separating the trees that are down," he said, and accepted the tool the other male passed to him.

When another buck appeared, seeming displeased with what the rabbit-like buck was doing, he paused, listening to the conversation. The comment about trees being infinite struck him as slightly odd. An exaggeration, and something of a careless one; trees took time to grow. He flicked an ear, careful not to disturb Merry; but he said around the tool, "No worse than beavers bringing down a few trees, surely?"

He turned his eyes back to the first buck, the tip of his tail flicking, and asked thoughtfully, "How large a space?"

Baneful wrote:

Beejoux wrote:

LOLLI qAq wrote:

She chipped softly, nuzzling against the dark fluff of his hair before her attention returned solidly to the lanky rabbit like buck that was currently attempting to recruit her mate for...whatever this was.

Another had arrived, voicing disapproval over the felled trees, and she shifted on her delicate perch, chirping a sharp note at the Will's insistance that it was fine, that the trees were an intimate commodity. She didn't agree.

When Consume took the offered tool, speaking curiously around it, she pecked softly at his brow, shuffling up through his hair. Wings flapping her protest.

prolixity wrote:

bane wrote:

lolli qaq wrote:

"INFINITE-- No, there certainly are not."

And if it seemed so it was only because he and others like him were doing their jobs well. He only huffed angrily at the veiled threat included, but chose not to take the bait.

Story kept his eyes focused on the rabbit-buck, but shook his head slowly in reply to the gray fellow picking up one of the offered tools.

"A beaver's work is similar in that they use what wood is available. But there is a balance to what they do and how they do it," he took his time in getting each word out. "This is not ... comparable. This seems to me to be death for the sake of death. There are other ways to have a clearing for child rearing. I do remember hearing about a whole tribe dedicated to it once upon a time."

He returned to talking to the rabbit-buck directly: "Yes, how many of these trees do you plan on removing?"

Story smiled softly, for a brief moment, at the bright bird protesting from atop her kimeti friend.

"Me too, friend," he said softly to her.

Baneful wrote:

Prolixity wrote:

Beejoux wrote:

"Thank you." Will said with a charming but toothy smile as Consume volunteered to help chop up the trees for more straightforward removal. "It will be very useful."

He nodded in agreement with Consume regarding the beavers, too. "Exactly like beavers, we are simply reshaping a little section of the swamp to house ourselves and ours."

The preaching from Story on behalf of balance forced him to suppress the raising of his hackles, instead remaining good-humoured. "I assure you that it isn't at all death for the sake of death. It is a reshaping, a gentle but forceful changing of the swamp to accommodate new life—something it does relentlessly all the time. Change is not to be feared." His glowing purple gaze alighted on the little bird again.

He inclined his head a little and looked about the space. "Oh, I'd say a few. I wouldn't want there to be a risk of fire picking up. It is important to keep the young warm, but it is also important to keep them safe. That is what I have in mind. I've had a few near misses with fire, I'm afraid, so I know how important it can be to hold back the /ever/ encroaching forest."

He turned to address them all: "But I am a blessed one of the swamp, I assure you. Nothing that I chose to do would be against the Motherfather's will, so set your minds at rest in that regard."

LOLLI qAq wrote:

Prolixity wrote:

Beejoux wrote:

Consume nodded a little at change is not to be feared; he agreed with that. But when the rabbit-like buck spoke of the ever-encroaching forest and then assured them that he was blessed of the swamp, Consume felt a little edge of uneasiness. There was something about the words the buck chose that felt strange to him. He couldn't quite pin down what it was.

His ears laid themselves slowly back. He liked the idea of the new tool he held, of choosing to shape things. He wasn't as certain about the clearing of the trees. But then again, what was the harm of occasionally removing a few trees? He set the tool down so that he wouldn't have to talk around it. "If many kin chose to remove many trees, certainly that would be wrong," he said slowly, thinking out loud. "But in moderation, is it bad?" That was the central question he was having trouble with. "Can we choose to make spaces, or should we leave that choice to the swamp itself?" It was destruction, that was undeniable, but was the reasoning behind it enough? He looked to the trees that had already been felled. They had been brought down before they would have fallen naturally, but if they were to be used, was that any worse than hunting to eat?

His eyes flickered back to the tool he'd put down. He wanted to try it. Surely that wasn't terrible? "I'll ... take apart what has already been felled," he said, his tail describing slow arcs back and forth. "It shouldn't be wasted."

Baneful wrote:

Beejoux wrote:

LOLLI qAq wrote:

The bright bird seemed to settle again when Consume had set the tool down, over fluffed feathers smoothing again, and she ran her beak along one long flight feather, settling it further into it's proper place. She stood out against the monochromatic buck she was sitting on, the thick fan of her tail all but covering the back of his neck.

When he picked the tool up again she gave a somewhat indignant little chirp, but just the one, seemingly reassured by his logic of only using it on the already felled trees.

It wasn't that the tools didn't seem handy, they would certainly have their good uses. Especially after heavy storms that liked to drop big branches or push over trees that were not adequately anchored down by their roots. Clearing away what the swamp was willing to provide.

She looked back at the rabbit shaped buck. He said he was blessed by the swamp, and he certainly could have been, but there was something about his wording, his logic, that wasn't sitting well with her.

lolli qaq wrote:

baneful wrote:

prolixity wrote:

Story took a deep, steadying, breath. There was too much about this kin that felt wrong; the opposite of chosen by the MotherFather. It would be rude, however, to assume. Especially if he was wrong ... but, his heart lurched at the ever encroaching comment. Was that a personal dig at him? Story knew what he looked like.

He took another step closer and eyed the tools.

"Clearly I disagree with how You are using them, " he said so slowly, "but I cannot deny that they would be very useful in clearing away already fallen or dead trees. It in pruning my fruit trees to help them bloom better."
He watched the other buck, with the bird friend, start on the already felled wood and nodded.
"Yes, quite like that."

He did not like this rabbit buck. At all ... but he disliked confrontation more. He'd started it and he hoped that by offering a compromise he could end it as well.

His body language and the anger still in his voice said otherwise.

baneful wrote:

beejoux wrote:

prolixity wrote: