Threadbare - Complete Trilogy, page 30
Your Climb skill is now level 10!
Your Climb skill is now level 11!
Your Climb skill is now level 12!
Occasionally he’d slide down, or lose his grip and tumble downslope a bit, but he was very strong now compared to his size, so stopping his fall wasn’t a big deal. He just caught ahold of the ground and pushed, until he slowed, and then it was back to climbing.
But during the climb, he completely forgot about his buffs. Which was a pity, because otherwise his nose would have told him that he was going straight into the lair of the region’s biggest predator.
The sky brightened as he reached the top, moon sunk below the mountains. Dawn soon, he knew. The bear hauled himself up over the cliff, got to the little plateau, and there was the curtain of blackness, dividing the mountain peak in half. There was the little pond… no so little now, swelled with the first of the season’s snowmelt, and roiling with silvery fish. And there was the stand of pine trees, where Celia had sheltered and they’d built a small fire.
But no sign of either of the half-orc brothers. If they’d ever made it here, they were long gone.
Threadbare’s heart sank, and the terrible despair that had struck him down at the bottom of the cliff came rushing back. He staggered to the trees, calling out as he went, “Jarrik? Garon? Bak’shaz?”
But his little voice fell into silence. The snow crunched underfoot, warm and… yellow?
Yes, there was a patch of yellow snow. Someone had peed here!
“Scents and Sensibility!”
And predator stink filled his nose, the same predator that had marked the rock. Big and deadly, and familiar, and…
Oh. Oh!
For the first time since he’d arrived, hope, that fragile thing with wings soared in his chest. He looked at the sky. It had been so long. Would he remember Threadbare?
The little bear got to work, brushing snow away until he found the old firepit. Damp wood, pine wood went into a pile, and the little bear pointed at it.
“Firestarter.”
Your Firestarter skill is now level 2!
A tiny spark leaped out, and the wood smoldered, but nothing happened.
No! He would NOT be denied!
“Firestarter! Firestarter! Firestarter!”
That did it. Around skill level four, the wood caught. Threadbare kept a few pointy pieces of wood aside. Then he glanced over at the pond, shucked off his apron, and stomped toward it with bearly determination. “Forage,” he said, skilling up, and wading into the school of newly-born salmon.
Twenty minutes and one dexterity boost later, the sky was light, so light, and he knew the sun was just behind the eastern mountains. He eyed his eight fish, and decided they’d have to do. He tossed them over by the fire, and stuck them on the skewers, then put them over the flames. It took some fiddling, but soon he had them cooking.
You have unlocked the cook job!
Would you like to be a cook at this time? y/n?
No, that was pretty silly, he decided. The words went away, and he breathed a sigh of relief. What use was cooking to something that didn’t eat?
Besides, he wasn’t trying to cook them. He was just trying to get the smell into the air.
“Clean and Press”, he decided, tapping his noggin. And instantly the fish blood and guts and grime and mud and dirt from traveling whisked away from him. He put on his apron again, buckled it, turned around-
-and there it was, looming over him in the predawn light. Twice as tall as he was, black as pitch, with suspicious yellow eyes fixated on Threadbare. A pair of high, pointed ears poked out from its skull.
Though Threadbare had no word for it, humans would call this beast a bobcat.
And while every instinct shouted at the bobcat to chase the little creature away from its good-smelling dinner, to assert dominance and steal its food, the big feline hesitated.
Because something about this little thing seemed familiar.
It leaned in, animalistic instincts activating its own Scents and Sensibility, and it sniffed the teddy bear. It sniffed him carefully…
…until it came to the apron pocket that Threadbare had tucked soap powder into.
And its eyes opened wide, as a rumbling purr burst from its chest!
It had not ALWAYS been a bobcat, after all, and he too had lost his home, his home that smelled of soap powder and hoomins and polished wood and comfortable napping spots in the sun and warm places in winter and that little toy bear
It WAS the little toy bear!
“Pulsivar,” said Threadbare, hugging the big cat, and then he was purring and licking the little bear over and over again, and rolling around on the ground and purring and getting up and running in circles in pure joy.
CHA +1
LUCK +1
Well, Pulsivar celebrated for a little while, anyway. As much time as he could give the matter. Those fish smelled delicious and you had to have priorities, after all.
Threadbare watched happily as Pulsivar gobbled up the catch, even helping remove them from the skewers so the black bobcat could properly enjoy breakfast. Afterwards it simply flopped down next to the fire, half-on top of Threadbare, grooming him for all he was worth.
By befriending a wild beast you have unlocked the Tamer job!
You cannot become a Tamer at this time.
The words faded as Threadbare laughed for the first time, tiny little giggles completely lost against the massive feline’s purr. It didn’t matter. Not one bit, because though everything wasn’t right with the world, this, right now, made everything a bit better.
And though there was a lot to do, though so much bad had happened and he still needed to go and save everyone else he could, Threadbare sighed and relaxed against the warm, purring lump of fur and muscle that was his first foe, and first ally, and just enjoyed being cuddled again.
For now, this was enough.
And it was enough for Pulsivar, too.
THREADBARE’S CHARACTER SHEET
Name: Threadbare Age: 5
Jobs:
Greater Toy Golem Level 9 Bear Level 8 Ruler Level 4 Scout Level 4 Tailor Level 8 Model Level 2 Necromancer Level 1 Duelist Level 1 Animator Level 1 Enchanter Level 1 Golemist Level 1 Smith Level 1
Attributes: Strength: 79 Constitution: 83 Hit Points: 216(236) Armor: 34 (38) Intelligence: 60 Wisdom: 93 Sanity: 152(172) Mental Fortitude: 24 Dexterity: 43 Agility: 59 Stamina: 110(130) Endurance: 44 Charisma: 57 Willpower: 47 Moxie: 103(123) Cool: 20 Perception: 60 Luck: 54 Fortune: 113(133) Fate: 9
Generic Skills Brawling - Level 20 (21) Climb - Level 12 Clubs and Maces - Level 9 Dagger - Level 9 Dodge - Level 2 Fishing - Level 1 Ride - Level 7 Stealth - Level 5 Swim - Level 2
Greater Toy Golem Skills Adorable - Level 15 Gift of Sapience - Level NA Golem Body - Level 20 Innocent Embrace - Level 8 Magic Resistance -Level 4
Bear Skills Animalistic Interface - NA Claw Swipes - 16 Forage - 8 Growl - 1 Hibernate - 37 Scents and Sensibility - 14 Stubborn - 7 Toughness - 12
Ruler Skills Emboldening Speech - Level 1 Identify Subject - Level 1 Noblesse Oblige - Level 1 Royal Request - Level 1 Simple Decree - Level 1
Scout Skills Camouflage - Level 1 Firestarter - Level 4 Keen Eye - Level 1 Sturdy Back - Level 5 Wind’s Whisper - Level 1
Tailor Skills Talioring - Level 37 (41) Clean and Press - Level 1 Adjust Outfit - Level 1
Model Skills Dietary Restriction - Level 10 (+20 to all pools) Fascination - Level 2 Flex - Level 10 Self-Esteem - Level 10 Work it Baby - Level 2
Necromancer Skills Assess Corpse - Level 1 Command the Dead - Level 1 Soulstone - Level 1 Speak With Dead -Level 2 Zombies - Level 1
Duelist Skills Challenge - Level 1 Dazzling Entrance - Level 1 Fancy Flourish - Level 1 Guard Stance - Level 1 Weapon Specialist - Level 1 (Brawling +1)
Animator Skills Animus - Level 5 Command Animus - Level 1 Creator’s Guardians - Level 5 Eye for Detail - Level 1 Mend - Level 1
Enchanter Skills Appraise - Level 1 Glowgleam - Level 1 Harden - Level 1 Soften - Level 1 Spellstore - Level 1
Golemist Skills Command Golem - Level 1 Golem Animus - Level 1 Invite Golem - Level 1 Toy Golem Construction - Level 1
Smith Skills Refine Ore - Level 1
Equipment
Apprentice Tailor’s Apron (+4 Armor, +4 Tailoring Skill)
Quests
Save Celia
Unlocked Jobs Cook, Tamer, Wizard
A Cat has a Sheet
Name: Pulsivar
Age: 10
Jobs: Bobcat 21
Attributes Strength: 61 Constitution: 84 Hit Points: 145 Armor: 0 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 55 Sanity: 65 Mental Fortitude: 0 Dexterity: 55 Agility: 136 Stamina: 191 Endurance: 35 Charisma: 62 Willpower: 128 Moxie: 190 Cool: 55 Perception: 90 Luck: 55 Fortune: 145 Fate: 21
Generic Skills Brawling - Level 56 Climb - Level 52 Dodge - Level 32 Stealth - Level 71 Swim - Level 2
Cat Skills Animalistic Interface - NA Birdslayer - Level 25 Claw Swipes - Level 85 Groom - Level 58 Growl - Level 28
Nap - Level 74 Nine Lives - Level 3 Scents and Sensibility - Level 60 Slowfall - Level 27
Tomcat Skills Caterwaul - Level 33
Bobcat Skills Camouflage - Level 2
Equipment
Quests
Mating Season (Seasonal Quest - 352hr:18min:06sec remaining)
It’s worth noting a few things. First of all, his hit points are pretty anemic for a level 21 beast. This is a side effect of spending half his life in a domestic situation, where he never had to build his strength or constitution much. That said, it did wonders for his charisma and wisdom. And once he got out, it started catching up… somewhat. Cats get boosts to Agility, Perception, and will, and Tomcats switch over to Agility and Will. Bobcats go to Agility and Perception. He hasn’t been a bobcat for long, about a year all told. Which is why his one bobcat skill is pretty underleveled. That’s also due to the fact that his stealth was already huge by the time he got it, so he’s only kicked in camouflage once, when he got in over his head and had to hide for his life.
He’s also been immersed in water precisely once. NEVER AGAIN! (Which is why that swim skill is 2.)
Other things worth noting are that nine lives skill, unique to cats. It’s actually the one you DON’T want to level. It costs 10 times the rating of the skill in fortune to activate, and reduces an attack or event that would kill you to an attack or event that would leave you at one hit point. Thanks to being evicted into the wilderness, Pulsivar’s had to use it twice already. It always goes up once every time you use it. Once it hits nine, it is removed from your character sheet.
The only other things on here that haven’t been seen yet are birdslayer, groom, nap, and slowfall. Birdslayer is a buff that aids in hunting flying things, countering some of their natural advantages. Groom is a healing skill, using sanity to do a small amount of hp restored. Slowfall reduces the damage taken from falling, and allows greater maneuverability in midair. Nap is like a smaller version of hibernate, that takes hours instead of months.
He looks fierce, but his HP really are bad. And the lack of natural armor leaves him open to being overwhelmed by raw strength and damage. An adventurer of equal level would roll right through Pulsivar in a straight-up fight, if Pulsivar didn’t go full defensive and pray his level 32 dodge skill and high natural agility were enough to keep him alive until he escaped. Pulsivar is built to strike hard from ambush, kill things that aren’t a challenge, and eat them. And with Stealth 71 and 136 agility, he’s very, very good at that…
…and he still wouldn’t have a prayer of sneaking past Mordecai, who is(was?) a perception-focused adventurer getting double perception dips from scout and archer alike.
That said, he’s a pretty good example of an experienced big cat (A smallish breed, mind you,) and about what you’d expect from one who’s gotten pretty good at his job, good enough to survive a decade. There’s probably plenty like him throughout the region. Which is a good thing, given the sweet experience his seasonal quest gives. That’s not a solo quest, and it’s limited to big cats only. Which is probably for the best, all things considered.
Getting Your Bearings 2
Raccants had a number of advantages over their basic species. Raccoons were mostly nocturnal, and avoided doing anything in the day if they could help it. But Raccants were a bit more flexible, and had more energy on the whole, thanks to a good endurance bump from their upgraded job. They could operate in the day or night or both, so long as they got some sleep at SOME point.
Which was a good thing, as the presence of the creature they knew as the Black Death mostly came out at night. Mostly. Over the last year, as it had started preying upon them, the fuzzy ring-tailed garbage hoarders had been forced to make a somewhat-fortified camp outside of their lair. To any passing human it would have looked like a teeny, half-hearted, randomly-built fence around a few kids tents. To the raccants it was their castle, their bastion to defend to the last, a masterpiece and triumph of engineering that would make any humans who saw it fall in love with it and adopt them all out of respect for their ingenuity!
Not that there were many humans around. At all. Which sucked, and made for some hard winters. And a lot less interesting trash. They’d been forced to forage further and further afield because of that, with mixed results.
But the simple truth of the matter was that between the fortifications, the fires, and the noisy patrols they sent out at night to walk around the perimeter, the Black Death had only picked off a few of them over the winter. So it was working, and they were proud of it.
Which was why it was a bit of a shock when a small brown teddy bear fell from an overhanging tree branch, straight into the middle of camp, into the smoldering coals of the campfire. Hurridly he got up and patted the embers away from him.
It was a good thing he had an apron. The sturdy little garment kept coals from his soft belly, otherwise he might have caught on fire right then and there.
A few of the raccants appreciated the craftsmanship, even as they reached for weapons.
Your Work It Baby skill is now level 3!
Threadbare tried a smile. He had been trying to get to the pole of the nearest tent to slide down it, but the end result was the same. He wanted to try talking to the funny creatures, first. They were only about two or three times his size, and perhaps he could sort out things without a misunderstanding.
“Hello,” he said, in his soft, quiet voice. With a cavity about the size of a grape to work with, it was barely audible, even to the relatively good hearing of the raccants. “I’m looking for Missus Fluffbear. She’s like me but black, and this big.” He put his hand at about his waist. Or where his waist would be if he had one.
This was kind of exciting, he’d never been able to talk things out before! The Raccants gathered around him, poking at him curiously with clubs. He pushed one away before it could rap him on the ear. “Please can you give her back?”
The largest of the raccants, one with a pair of stars made out of wet and dirty wood on his shoulders, tied there by uneven strings, swaggered up to him and chattered something that Threadbare completely failed to understand.
“I’m sorry. I don’t speak that.”
The Raccant leaned over, grabbed his apron, and examined it. His wooden mask, which looked like a fat-cheeked blunt-nosed fuzzy thing, read “HMSTR,” and it was very close to Threadbare’s face.
“Yes, that is my apron.”
The raccant plucked the scissors out of their sheath, and started picking out the other tools and items, handing them back to his subordinates. Threadbare, with a strength that surprised the big raccant, yanked his apron back and smoothed it.
“No,” the little bear said.
Instantly the raccants closed ranks, pointing with sharp sticks and brandishing clubs. Threadbare shook his head.
Well, he’d tried.
The big raccant brought his club bashing down on the tiny bear-
-and blinked behind his mask as a crimson ’1’ rolled up from Threadbare’s noggin.
Threadbare hauled back and punched him in the mask, sending him staggering back, as a red ‘18’ rose into the air.
Your Brawling skill is now level 21!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 2!
And then the rest of the Raccants, thoroughly spooked by the little creature, and aggravated at the intrusion, piled in on the teddy bear.
They might as well have been attacking a wall. Threadbare had flexed before he went up the tree, and between the buff and his thickened hide and stuffing, their clubs and spears did little. Still, there were many of them, and they could each take several hits, so his own counterattacks weren’t thinning the numbers by much. And every now and then, one of them would get lucky and crit, and sneak anywhere from five or fifteen points of damage through.
Finally Threadbare accepted that he was going to have to play for keeps… especially when he saw a black from materialize out of nowhere, leaping over the fence and moving up to the back of the group fighting Threadbare. These Raccants were dead, he knew. Might as well get some practice in before they went down.
And the next time he got a chance to fight back, he went for a swipe instead of a punch.
The raccant fell back, staring at its slashed arm, and the ‘26’ oozing out of it. The bear had claws!
Your Claw Swipes skill is now level 17!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 3!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 4!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 5!
Your Brawling skill is now level 22!
Critical Hit!
DEX +1
LUCK +1
The claw swipes helped, but it was still a slog. But as Threadbare watched, Pulsivar went to work. He took down three of them one by one, swift, silent pounces that ended in blood and corpses. Finally, the remaining raccants noticed, and the second they did, they panicked!
The Black Death was upon them!
This was far too much. Raccants didn’t have much in the way of moxie to begin with, and caught between a bear and a dark face, they broke like twigs and ran in all directions, scrambling over, around, or in some cases THROUGH their shoddily-prepared fence.
Your Climb skill is now level 11!
Your Climb skill is now level 12!
Occasionally he’d slide down, or lose his grip and tumble downslope a bit, but he was very strong now compared to his size, so stopping his fall wasn’t a big deal. He just caught ahold of the ground and pushed, until he slowed, and then it was back to climbing.
But during the climb, he completely forgot about his buffs. Which was a pity, because otherwise his nose would have told him that he was going straight into the lair of the region’s biggest predator.
The sky brightened as he reached the top, moon sunk below the mountains. Dawn soon, he knew. The bear hauled himself up over the cliff, got to the little plateau, and there was the curtain of blackness, dividing the mountain peak in half. There was the little pond… no so little now, swelled with the first of the season’s snowmelt, and roiling with silvery fish. And there was the stand of pine trees, where Celia had sheltered and they’d built a small fire.
But no sign of either of the half-orc brothers. If they’d ever made it here, they were long gone.
Threadbare’s heart sank, and the terrible despair that had struck him down at the bottom of the cliff came rushing back. He staggered to the trees, calling out as he went, “Jarrik? Garon? Bak’shaz?”
But his little voice fell into silence. The snow crunched underfoot, warm and… yellow?
Yes, there was a patch of yellow snow. Someone had peed here!
“Scents and Sensibility!”
And predator stink filled his nose, the same predator that had marked the rock. Big and deadly, and familiar, and…
Oh. Oh!
For the first time since he’d arrived, hope, that fragile thing with wings soared in his chest. He looked at the sky. It had been so long. Would he remember Threadbare?
The little bear got to work, brushing snow away until he found the old firepit. Damp wood, pine wood went into a pile, and the little bear pointed at it.
“Firestarter.”
Your Firestarter skill is now level 2!
A tiny spark leaped out, and the wood smoldered, but nothing happened.
No! He would NOT be denied!
“Firestarter! Firestarter! Firestarter!”
That did it. Around skill level four, the wood caught. Threadbare kept a few pointy pieces of wood aside. Then he glanced over at the pond, shucked off his apron, and stomped toward it with bearly determination. “Forage,” he said, skilling up, and wading into the school of newly-born salmon.
Twenty minutes and one dexterity boost later, the sky was light, so light, and he knew the sun was just behind the eastern mountains. He eyed his eight fish, and decided they’d have to do. He tossed them over by the fire, and stuck them on the skewers, then put them over the flames. It took some fiddling, but soon he had them cooking.
You have unlocked the cook job!
Would you like to be a cook at this time? y/n?
No, that was pretty silly, he decided. The words went away, and he breathed a sigh of relief. What use was cooking to something that didn’t eat?
Besides, he wasn’t trying to cook them. He was just trying to get the smell into the air.
“Clean and Press”, he decided, tapping his noggin. And instantly the fish blood and guts and grime and mud and dirt from traveling whisked away from him. He put on his apron again, buckled it, turned around-
-and there it was, looming over him in the predawn light. Twice as tall as he was, black as pitch, with suspicious yellow eyes fixated on Threadbare. A pair of high, pointed ears poked out from its skull.
Though Threadbare had no word for it, humans would call this beast a bobcat.
And while every instinct shouted at the bobcat to chase the little creature away from its good-smelling dinner, to assert dominance and steal its food, the big feline hesitated.
Because something about this little thing seemed familiar.
It leaned in, animalistic instincts activating its own Scents and Sensibility, and it sniffed the teddy bear. It sniffed him carefully…
…until it came to the apron pocket that Threadbare had tucked soap powder into.
And its eyes opened wide, as a rumbling purr burst from its chest!
It had not ALWAYS been a bobcat, after all, and he too had lost his home, his home that smelled of soap powder and hoomins and polished wood and comfortable napping spots in the sun and warm places in winter and that little toy bear
It WAS the little toy bear!
“Pulsivar,” said Threadbare, hugging the big cat, and then he was purring and licking the little bear over and over again, and rolling around on the ground and purring and getting up and running in circles in pure joy.
CHA +1
LUCK +1
Well, Pulsivar celebrated for a little while, anyway. As much time as he could give the matter. Those fish smelled delicious and you had to have priorities, after all.
Threadbare watched happily as Pulsivar gobbled up the catch, even helping remove them from the skewers so the black bobcat could properly enjoy breakfast. Afterwards it simply flopped down next to the fire, half-on top of Threadbare, grooming him for all he was worth.
By befriending a wild beast you have unlocked the Tamer job!
You cannot become a Tamer at this time.
The words faded as Threadbare laughed for the first time, tiny little giggles completely lost against the massive feline’s purr. It didn’t matter. Not one bit, because though everything wasn’t right with the world, this, right now, made everything a bit better.
And though there was a lot to do, though so much bad had happened and he still needed to go and save everyone else he could, Threadbare sighed and relaxed against the warm, purring lump of fur and muscle that was his first foe, and first ally, and just enjoyed being cuddled again.
For now, this was enough.
And it was enough for Pulsivar, too.
THREADBARE’S CHARACTER SHEET
Name: Threadbare Age: 5
Jobs:
Greater Toy Golem Level 9 Bear Level 8 Ruler Level 4 Scout Level 4 Tailor Level 8 Model Level 2 Necromancer Level 1 Duelist Level 1 Animator Level 1 Enchanter Level 1 Golemist Level 1 Smith Level 1
Attributes: Strength: 79 Constitution: 83 Hit Points: 216(236) Armor: 34 (38) Intelligence: 60 Wisdom: 93 Sanity: 152(172) Mental Fortitude: 24 Dexterity: 43 Agility: 59 Stamina: 110(130) Endurance: 44 Charisma: 57 Willpower: 47 Moxie: 103(123) Cool: 20 Perception: 60 Luck: 54 Fortune: 113(133) Fate: 9
Generic Skills Brawling - Level 20 (21) Climb - Level 12 Clubs and Maces - Level 9 Dagger - Level 9 Dodge - Level 2 Fishing - Level 1 Ride - Level 7 Stealth - Level 5 Swim - Level 2
Greater Toy Golem Skills Adorable - Level 15 Gift of Sapience - Level NA Golem Body - Level 20 Innocent Embrace - Level 8 Magic Resistance -Level 4
Bear Skills Animalistic Interface - NA Claw Swipes - 16 Forage - 8 Growl - 1 Hibernate - 37 Scents and Sensibility - 14 Stubborn - 7 Toughness - 12
Ruler Skills Emboldening Speech - Level 1 Identify Subject - Level 1 Noblesse Oblige - Level 1 Royal Request - Level 1 Simple Decree - Level 1
Scout Skills Camouflage - Level 1 Firestarter - Level 4 Keen Eye - Level 1 Sturdy Back - Level 5 Wind’s Whisper - Level 1
Tailor Skills Talioring - Level 37 (41) Clean and Press - Level 1 Adjust Outfit - Level 1
Model Skills Dietary Restriction - Level 10 (+20 to all pools) Fascination - Level 2 Flex - Level 10 Self-Esteem - Level 10 Work it Baby - Level 2
Necromancer Skills Assess Corpse - Level 1 Command the Dead - Level 1 Soulstone - Level 1 Speak With Dead -Level 2 Zombies - Level 1
Duelist Skills Challenge - Level 1 Dazzling Entrance - Level 1 Fancy Flourish - Level 1 Guard Stance - Level 1 Weapon Specialist - Level 1 (Brawling +1)
Animator Skills Animus - Level 5 Command Animus - Level 1 Creator’s Guardians - Level 5 Eye for Detail - Level 1 Mend - Level 1
Enchanter Skills Appraise - Level 1 Glowgleam - Level 1 Harden - Level 1 Soften - Level 1 Spellstore - Level 1
Golemist Skills Command Golem - Level 1 Golem Animus - Level 1 Invite Golem - Level 1 Toy Golem Construction - Level 1
Smith Skills Refine Ore - Level 1
Equipment
Apprentice Tailor’s Apron (+4 Armor, +4 Tailoring Skill)
Quests
Save Celia
Unlocked Jobs Cook, Tamer, Wizard
A Cat has a Sheet
Name: Pulsivar
Age: 10
Jobs: Bobcat 21
Attributes Strength: 61 Constitution: 84 Hit Points: 145 Armor: 0 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 55 Sanity: 65 Mental Fortitude: 0 Dexterity: 55 Agility: 136 Stamina: 191 Endurance: 35 Charisma: 62 Willpower: 128 Moxie: 190 Cool: 55 Perception: 90 Luck: 55 Fortune: 145 Fate: 21
Generic Skills Brawling - Level 56 Climb - Level 52 Dodge - Level 32 Stealth - Level 71 Swim - Level 2
Cat Skills Animalistic Interface - NA Birdslayer - Level 25 Claw Swipes - Level 85 Groom - Level 58 Growl - Level 28
Nap - Level 74 Nine Lives - Level 3 Scents and Sensibility - Level 60 Slowfall - Level 27
Tomcat Skills Caterwaul - Level 33
Bobcat Skills Camouflage - Level 2
Equipment
Quests
Mating Season (Seasonal Quest - 352hr:18min:06sec remaining)
It’s worth noting a few things. First of all, his hit points are pretty anemic for a level 21 beast. This is a side effect of spending half his life in a domestic situation, where he never had to build his strength or constitution much. That said, it did wonders for his charisma and wisdom. And once he got out, it started catching up… somewhat. Cats get boosts to Agility, Perception, and will, and Tomcats switch over to Agility and Will. Bobcats go to Agility and Perception. He hasn’t been a bobcat for long, about a year all told. Which is why his one bobcat skill is pretty underleveled. That’s also due to the fact that his stealth was already huge by the time he got it, so he’s only kicked in camouflage once, when he got in over his head and had to hide for his life.
He’s also been immersed in water precisely once. NEVER AGAIN! (Which is why that swim skill is 2.)
Other things worth noting are that nine lives skill, unique to cats. It’s actually the one you DON’T want to level. It costs 10 times the rating of the skill in fortune to activate, and reduces an attack or event that would kill you to an attack or event that would leave you at one hit point. Thanks to being evicted into the wilderness, Pulsivar’s had to use it twice already. It always goes up once every time you use it. Once it hits nine, it is removed from your character sheet.
The only other things on here that haven’t been seen yet are birdslayer, groom, nap, and slowfall. Birdslayer is a buff that aids in hunting flying things, countering some of their natural advantages. Groom is a healing skill, using sanity to do a small amount of hp restored. Slowfall reduces the damage taken from falling, and allows greater maneuverability in midair. Nap is like a smaller version of hibernate, that takes hours instead of months.
He looks fierce, but his HP really are bad. And the lack of natural armor leaves him open to being overwhelmed by raw strength and damage. An adventurer of equal level would roll right through Pulsivar in a straight-up fight, if Pulsivar didn’t go full defensive and pray his level 32 dodge skill and high natural agility were enough to keep him alive until he escaped. Pulsivar is built to strike hard from ambush, kill things that aren’t a challenge, and eat them. And with Stealth 71 and 136 agility, he’s very, very good at that…
…and he still wouldn’t have a prayer of sneaking past Mordecai, who is(was?) a perception-focused adventurer getting double perception dips from scout and archer alike.
That said, he’s a pretty good example of an experienced big cat (A smallish breed, mind you,) and about what you’d expect from one who’s gotten pretty good at his job, good enough to survive a decade. There’s probably plenty like him throughout the region. Which is a good thing, given the sweet experience his seasonal quest gives. That’s not a solo quest, and it’s limited to big cats only. Which is probably for the best, all things considered.
Getting Your Bearings 2
Raccants had a number of advantages over their basic species. Raccoons were mostly nocturnal, and avoided doing anything in the day if they could help it. But Raccants were a bit more flexible, and had more energy on the whole, thanks to a good endurance bump from their upgraded job. They could operate in the day or night or both, so long as they got some sleep at SOME point.
Which was a good thing, as the presence of the creature they knew as the Black Death mostly came out at night. Mostly. Over the last year, as it had started preying upon them, the fuzzy ring-tailed garbage hoarders had been forced to make a somewhat-fortified camp outside of their lair. To any passing human it would have looked like a teeny, half-hearted, randomly-built fence around a few kids tents. To the raccants it was their castle, their bastion to defend to the last, a masterpiece and triumph of engineering that would make any humans who saw it fall in love with it and adopt them all out of respect for their ingenuity!
Not that there were many humans around. At all. Which sucked, and made for some hard winters. And a lot less interesting trash. They’d been forced to forage further and further afield because of that, with mixed results.
But the simple truth of the matter was that between the fortifications, the fires, and the noisy patrols they sent out at night to walk around the perimeter, the Black Death had only picked off a few of them over the winter. So it was working, and they were proud of it.
Which was why it was a bit of a shock when a small brown teddy bear fell from an overhanging tree branch, straight into the middle of camp, into the smoldering coals of the campfire. Hurridly he got up and patted the embers away from him.
It was a good thing he had an apron. The sturdy little garment kept coals from his soft belly, otherwise he might have caught on fire right then and there.
A few of the raccants appreciated the craftsmanship, even as they reached for weapons.
Your Work It Baby skill is now level 3!
Threadbare tried a smile. He had been trying to get to the pole of the nearest tent to slide down it, but the end result was the same. He wanted to try talking to the funny creatures, first. They were only about two or three times his size, and perhaps he could sort out things without a misunderstanding.
“Hello,” he said, in his soft, quiet voice. With a cavity about the size of a grape to work with, it was barely audible, even to the relatively good hearing of the raccants. “I’m looking for Missus Fluffbear. She’s like me but black, and this big.” He put his hand at about his waist. Or where his waist would be if he had one.
This was kind of exciting, he’d never been able to talk things out before! The Raccants gathered around him, poking at him curiously with clubs. He pushed one away before it could rap him on the ear. “Please can you give her back?”
The largest of the raccants, one with a pair of stars made out of wet and dirty wood on his shoulders, tied there by uneven strings, swaggered up to him and chattered something that Threadbare completely failed to understand.
“I’m sorry. I don’t speak that.”
The Raccant leaned over, grabbed his apron, and examined it. His wooden mask, which looked like a fat-cheeked blunt-nosed fuzzy thing, read “HMSTR,” and it was very close to Threadbare’s face.
“Yes, that is my apron.”
The raccant plucked the scissors out of their sheath, and started picking out the other tools and items, handing them back to his subordinates. Threadbare, with a strength that surprised the big raccant, yanked his apron back and smoothed it.
“No,” the little bear said.
Instantly the raccants closed ranks, pointing with sharp sticks and brandishing clubs. Threadbare shook his head.
Well, he’d tried.
The big raccant brought his club bashing down on the tiny bear-
-and blinked behind his mask as a crimson ’1’ rolled up from Threadbare’s noggin.
Threadbare hauled back and punched him in the mask, sending him staggering back, as a red ‘18’ rose into the air.
Your Brawling skill is now level 21!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 2!
And then the rest of the Raccants, thoroughly spooked by the little creature, and aggravated at the intrusion, piled in on the teddy bear.
They might as well have been attacking a wall. Threadbare had flexed before he went up the tree, and between the buff and his thickened hide and stuffing, their clubs and spears did little. Still, there were many of them, and they could each take several hits, so his own counterattacks weren’t thinning the numbers by much. And every now and then, one of them would get lucky and crit, and sneak anywhere from five or fifteen points of damage through.
Finally Threadbare accepted that he was going to have to play for keeps… especially when he saw a black from materialize out of nowhere, leaping over the fence and moving up to the back of the group fighting Threadbare. These Raccants were dead, he knew. Might as well get some practice in before they went down.
And the next time he got a chance to fight back, he went for a swipe instead of a punch.
The raccant fell back, staring at its slashed arm, and the ‘26’ oozing out of it. The bear had claws!
Your Claw Swipes skill is now level 17!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 3!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 4!
Your Weapon Specialization skill is now level 5!
Your Brawling skill is now level 22!
Critical Hit!
DEX +1
LUCK +1
The claw swipes helped, but it was still a slog. But as Threadbare watched, Pulsivar went to work. He took down three of them one by one, swift, silent pounces that ended in blood and corpses. Finally, the remaining raccants noticed, and the second they did, they panicked!
The Black Death was upon them!
This was far too much. Raccants didn’t have much in the way of moxie to begin with, and caught between a bear and a dark face, they broke like twigs and ran in all directions, scrambling over, around, or in some cases THROUGH their shoddily-prepared fence.
