'Souls RPG

Word Count → 336 :: For the Woodcutter Co-rank!

Redtooth rose at first light, knowing full and well that this was going to be a very long day. And if by some miracle he accomplished everything he planned to do, the day would not only be long, but it would be one of the most physically exhausting days of his life. He enjoyed his work; building and repairing things filled Redtooth with an innate sense of pride. But there was something about Redtooth's job that he had come to despise and dread. Cutting trees and fashioning useable lumber from the logs was, literally, the worst job in the entire world. Nevertheless, somebody had to do it. So, after stopping by the mansions storeroom to pick up a crude wooden axe, a saw long enough to do meaningful work, and a hand-held wood planer, Redtooth set a trail though freshly fallen snow toward the Forest of Nod.

The brightly covered piece of fabric that he had nailed into the side of his chosen tree days prior still remained. It was tall and healthy, with a diameter of nearly two feet. From this single tree, and a few days work, he could craft enough boards to fix both the sitting room's collapsing floor and repair the leaning archery stand. He could kill two birds with one falling tree. His tools, the saw and planer, were set a short and safe distance away. Redtooth took the axe in both hands. He breathed a long winded sigh and his frosted breath rose in the weak morning light.

The axe was heavy in his hands. He wound back and he gave the tree his most intimidating stare before making a few practice swings in the air. All was a go. He felt ready. He stepped toward the tree and reared back. With all the power he could muster, Redtooth buried the stone edge of his axe as far as he could into the base of the pine tree's trunk. A loud thunk echoed through the forest.

Word Count → 336 ::

The sharp stone edge of the axe left a deep, wound-like gouge in the pine tree's trunk from where it was struck. Deep as the cut was, the tree was thick. It would need to be continuously whacked until it gave way under its own weight. Inhaling sharply, Redtooth pulled the axe from the tree's trunk and reared back once again.

Once again, Redtooth swung the axe with enough force that the volatile marriage of stone and wood caused his boney arms to shake upon impact. He could feel the vibrations travel from the axe handle to his hands. The force of the impact traveled through his forearm -- and all the way up to his shoulder. It was hard, but necessary work. The gouge in the tree's side continued to deepen as the woodsman continued about his task.. Redtooth took another swing -- and then another. Another still. Each strike sent another echoing thwack though the otherwise silent wood.

Then, Redtooth noticed a sound belonging to neither the tree or the wind. It was a voice. He turned to see a rather large coyote with an overbite. However, the stranger's most defining feature was the spiked collar around his neck. "Oh cool," Redtooth couldn't help himself from saying as soon as he saw the glint of red against the stranger's neck. He soon shrugged it off in the wake of the stranger's question. "I'm Redtooth," he answered. The axe came to rest at Redtooth's side. "The guy who's supposed to fix all the broken shit around here"

After he spoke, Redtooth could hear the trunk of the pine tree begin to groan under the stress of its own weight. It wasn't close to falling yet -- but he wanted to be completely sure. "So yeah. You know, you should probably stand over -- uh," he hummed for a moment before pointing at a spot that was a few feet from the stranger's right. "There. Yeah, there."

Word Count → 237 ::

With the stranger moving to a place of relative safety, Redtooth could breath easy. Nevertheless, the tree wasn't coming down anytime soon. But with matters like this, Redtooth liked to play things safe. He didn't want anyone getting hurt under his watch -- no matter how unlikely the circumstance may be. After all, he had just moved here. To ruin his reputation by getting a pack member killed by his own carelessness would be terrible (see: dramatic irony).

"Redtooth," he introduced again in an absent minded fashion. "And yeah, I build stuff. Fix stuff. Knock down trees. You know, all that jazz." The latter was obvious, as he was holding an axe and there was six inch gouge missing from the pine tree at Redtooth's side. When Antioch mentioned that he worked with wood as well, Redtooth's interest was peaked. "You know, I could use a partner when I repair the floor in the mansion. It's gonna be a lot of heavy lifting, and I don't wanna do it all myself. It'd be nice to have another experienced hand around."

Redtooth shrugged and let his offer linger for a moment before raising his axe again. Once again, with a loud thwack, the stone head was buried into the tree's trunk. "I've been here for about a week now," he said as he yanked the axe from tree's hold. "You lived here long?" he asked.

Word Count → 208 ::

As Redtooth swung his axe yet again, the stranger answered. "Ah, good. Awesome," he replied. While a maybe wasn't an explicit yes, Redtooth would take it even if Antioch was only moderately interested in lending a hand. It was a slight glimmer of hope, because the mansion was a project that Redtooth was sure that he would not be able to tackle alone. A job of that scale required bodies. And unfortunately, Redtooth was just one (not so strong) man.

When he pulled his axe from the tree, he could hear the wood begin to groan under the stress of its own weight. She was gonna come down -- and soon. "Mhm," he answered. "East Wing." He was sure Antioch would know exactly what part of the mansion he was talking about. The man was practically a veteran here, having lived in Inferni for a period of time that almost equaled half of Redtooth's entire existence.

Redtooth then turned his gaze from the tree to Antioch. "Look, I just need to shill out the other side real quick, and this is gonna come down. Care to lend a hand when she comes crashin'?" he asked before making his way to the other side of the pine tree.

Word Count → 230 ::

Once again, Redtooth took another hefty swing. "Oh shit, really?" he asked, pulling his axe from the tree trunk's grip. He wasn't exactly sharp enough upstairs to see anything odd about Antioch and his wife living in separate places. Redtooth himself had lived in a different house than the woman he had once intended to marry -- however, that story had no happy endings. "I'll have to swing by and visit or something. I'll uh -- I'll bring a casserole." He smiled. Where he was from, gifting the neighbors with artery clogging food was customary.

"I mean, if it's too much to ask, when this thing comes down, I'm gonna want to plane it out into workable lumber. That's uh -- that's a two man job, most'a the time," he explained. He gestured to the saw and wood planer that he had cast along the ground earlier. Then, with one final swing of the axe, the tree trunk gave. With a loud POP, the wood cracked. The whole tree slowly began leaning in Redtooth's direction.

She was coming down.

"Ah! Thar she blows!" Redtooth exclaimed, sidestepping into safety as the tree slowly fell. He beckoned Antioch to do the same. The falling tree picked up speed fast, and it soon crashed into the snow first with a whoosh, and then, a thud.