Dews of white

Alicia was making an artificial cave for Rufus, according to his wishes after the recent thunderstorms. Cave despite it’s small size and unnatural formation, - composed of phyllite and shale sourced from the crust and nearby riverbed - was large enough to house the lupine. From her experience she had difficulty bringing up rocks from the soil as most of them were buried underneath materials not under the domain of Earth Aspect. Such as tree roots and biomass. That being said, the earth aspect in rocky terrain - like in the mountains where she used it accidentally, was much easier to make use of as most of the earthen minerals were exposed and even if they’re too large; following their structural grains and sheets she could easily break them into more manageable pieces. During this time she earned the educement ⟨ Horticulture ⟩ from seemingly nowhere.

However further investigation found that Dryssia was teaching one of her spiders on how to take care of plants…

‘Horticulture… Spiders know horticulture do they?’¹Specific reference to this video. Random Far Cry 3 Bullshittery You can enjoy the rest of the video too.

Not long after his dwelling was completed Rufus set out to ‘recruit’ his companions. While observing how he avoided one of her spiders…

‘Even if he’s about the same size, he’s terrified of the Brides… Hope he’s not traumatized by them…… Might have something to do with being envenomed and partially mummified by them….’

• ‘I have returned, milady.’
• ‘Who?! Wait… Ramiel?’
• ‘Yes, milady.’
• ‘You can talk now?’
• ‘Yes, by your providence.’

>Notice. Idiosyncratic synchronization process of subject: C.Tornitua complete.

Mental harmonization achieved.

‘Okay but why does he have such a… husky… voice that’s manlier than I had?! That’s cheating!’

• ‘Oh um… You don’t need that milady part… So, did you need something?’
• ‘Hairless monkeys have expressed their want to meet you.’

‘Monkeys…?’

• ‘Elves? What could they want… By the way, how did you find me?’
• ‘Your presence is clear to us and to follow is easy… We would never go astray from your path, be it near or far.’
• ‘Sure…’

‘I don’t know what that means…’

Although it was in her thoughts only, she expressed her confusion to Alice as well… no one knows why she delivered the way she did: In a hush… within her own mind where no other than Alice could hear her.

• ‘So why do they want me? Did something happen?’
• ‘Monkeys seem perturbed by the last thunderstorm.’
• ‘Strange… I’ll check in on them.’

---

Moment she reached the vicinity few of the outlying rangers found  and ushered them to come, in a hurry.

• “Lady Alicia! The captain wants to meet you. Please, this way.”
• “I’m just earning all kinds of labels aren’t I…?”

There outside a hastily built barn a crowd had gathered… most of them -  judging by their attire - were rangers. The atmosphere was tense with worry and distress. Faenas who noticed Alicia and Ramiel coming rushed to her:

• “Alicia! Something is wrong with the goats, they’re not eating and-”

Her frantic speech and apparent alarm was rubbing off on Alicia as well who had to reel her back.

• “Whoa, calm down and talk to me from the beginning.”

Deep breath and a few moments later she managed to regain some of her composure;

• “When it rained a few days ago, there were multiple lightning strikes that landed in the vicinity. Thankfully there wasn't any damage done, however before we could get their barn complete we had the goats graze around freely. We didn’t know at the time but the lightning was hitting the goats who were out at the time, they didn’t seem bothered by it.”

‘Damn they just kept going after being hit by a lightning strike? Guess their name goes more than the surface level.’

• “But now they aren’t going out at all, not eating and… just sitting there almost in a daze.”
• “Not eating huh? Bit concerning but does this really warrant the… attention of everyone… here?”

The area was packed full with rangers who had many important tasks to tend to.

• “Of course! They’re an important asset to our village and their white dew is invaluable!”

Quiet murmurs of agreement circulated around them.

• “White dew…?”
• “Milk! It’s sweet, rich and deep with flavor and nutritious and, and-”

Although she managed to pacify them a moment ago, they were starting to get riled up again.

• “Okay I get, I get it. Seems like you haven’t touched the stuff for a while.”

Alicia was eyeing the empty buckets and barrels.

• “Obviously we wouldn’t stress them while they’re not feeling well like this.”
• “I’ll take a look… just don’t keep calm and wait here. Ramiel, you’re with me.”

Entering the crude but sturdy structure many of the goats noticed her and Ramiel, acknowledging them by look and greetings… of bleating.

• ‘The elves are worried about why they're not moving about and eating. From what I can see they don’t seem sick or ill. Any ideas?’
• ‘They simply do not need to milady.’
• ‘In more details?’
• ‘They are full and do not have the need to go out and eat, they have gained enough nutriment from heavens to sustain themselves, even if they do not do anything. We can gain such nourishment from the flashes in the clouds descending upon our crown. Rather we call upon them to settle there. Thus we live in places closer to the heavens.’
• ‘Your horns act as lightning rods sort of conductive attractors… on mountain tops… where lightning strikes are more common, your whole biology and evolution revolves around lightning…²Normally lightning follows the path of least resistance and the shortest path. Mountains which are elevated are closest to the clouds and are more prone to lightning strikes since it's shorter for them to hit a mountain than to go all the way down and hit some grass elsewhere. Which is also why you don’t stand under a lone tree on flatland plains. The tree is higher than the ground. The lightning will hit that tree in specific, just because it hates it but more so because it's the most conductive thing out there instead of air. Note: Electrophagy has yet to be demonstrated in real life by scientists however their concept has been going around for a while. You can eat lightning basically and now that you’re full…’
• ‘It is also very likely that their wool has grown too much as extra nutrition encourages their growth.’
• ‘So is that why they’re lazing around in the shade… are they overcome with contentment and indifference?’
• ‘Indeed. They are in hibernation, as rare as it is.’
• ‘Ugh. I was starting to get worried…’
• ‘My deepest apologies.’
• ‘Any way to make them active again?’
• ‘To drain them of their excess energy… Extracting them should help them channel the surplus power out and siphon it into their nursery fluids. And to thin out their fleece.’
• ‘Milking… the exact thing they were avoiding to do… they meant well so I can’t really hold them at fault. Also call it milk instead of… nursery fluids… that sounds suggestive.’
• ‘I shall take it to my heart.’
• ‘Is that all that’s necessary? Are there anything else I should know about?’
• ‘Yes that is all, normally the young feeding on them would cause them to rouse but this time there’s simply too much supply, they might need outside help.’
• ‘I’ll tell them that. By the way, how does it feel to be struck by lightning?’
• ‘Inimitable exhilaration and feeling of power. You should try it.’
• ‘…If I find time for the occasion…’

‘Nope! Nope! Nope! Nuh uh. Electricians’ motto, if you conduct, you lose. I should tell them the good news about the goats. I think they will be elated to hear that they can be milked once again since they harbored such strong feelings about.’

When the elves heard about the cause, symptoms and the remedy they were predictably overjoyed and moved with haste in order to collect the milk. Enquiring about the reason revealed their  addiction to the ‘white dew’. From their descriptions Alicia got the impression that it was a thick, sweetened milk. Anything sugary and sweet as it was rare around these parts not to mention their nutrition. It was easy to guess why it was popular among the ranks of the rangers who were mainly formed of girls fond of sweetness.

As they were in the process of milking, someone who licked off some of the milk that had gotten onto fingers reported a strange new taste. Again rumors of sickness and malady spread. Indubitably Alicia had the honor of tasting it first to test if it’s safe for consumption, she had no strong feelings as she had Toxic Tolerance from Advanced Toxicology. Her eyes widening in surprise attracted concerned looks from the elves.

• “Caffeine? It almost tastes like a mild… energy drink?”
• “Are you okay? Is it alright to drink?”
• “Yeah, here, have a swig for yourself.”

Gingerly Faenas sipped some for herself, licking her lips pausing, then wolfing down the rest before others could get their hand on to it. And with that a small clash over the limited supply of milk started.

‘I’m not a huge fan of energy drinks… feels like I’m drinking the physical embodiment of cardiac arrest. And when it inevitably crashes it is like as if my central nervous system is being hijacked by demons… but this? Tastes better, feels better, is healthier maybe and probably won’t give me caffeine crash induced psychosis. No wonder they’re fighting over this.’

---

Elfshot

After the great civil war of white dew had subsided thanks to the abundantly available supply. Faenas led Alicia to some sort of shed filled with piles of snowy mounds and brought her a basket of cotton like soft downy wool.

• “This is Cashmere?”
• “Whatever that is? It’s the wool from the goats that fell off from the combing, even if we don’t, it seems like they just shed it off by rubbing against rocks or tree bark. But since they liked being combed so much we started doing it regularly. However this place is filling up fast. We thought we should consult with you on how we would handle this.”

Picking up a bundle and rubbing it against her fingers showed how fine and soft they were.

• “Can you process them?”
• “Yes, we can spin them into a yarn and hand loom it to make something.”
• “Great, why don’t you do that? You could even fill up your pillow with the stuff. Make yourself a new blanket or whatever.”
• “Really we can have some of it?! Don’t you want all of it?”
• “What am I going to do with a room full of wool? Might as well give it to people who can put them to use. I’ll only need some, how about this, I’ll take this bucket of wool and give you the rest.”

Caught off guard by the excessively generous offer, Faenas was stupefied; burbling out nonsense sounds before getting her speech back in order.

• “Wait wait wait that’s too much! At least take half!”
• “I don’t-”
• “No. You. Will. Take. It. I don’t care if you have to burn it in a ditch just take it. That’s too much you’ve given us. We’re already buried in enough debt.”
• “Debt?”
• “Yes! Debt! You’ve done too much for us that it would be troubling if you kept adding onto what we already owe you.”
• “Huh? But I haven’t done that much?”
• “In your opinion, I suppose. To us it is.”

‘Oh boy, I can’t carry all this… uhm let's think about what I can take from them as a repayment… that seems to exist only in their minds… What do I need… Huh. Here’s a thought. Looking back to that incident with the ogres revealed the flaws in my methods. I can’t just hope everything to just somehow wander or run face first into my webs every single time, in that case I have to give them a reason to rush me down. Pestering them from range is just what I need. Also if they keep their distance and attack me from range I’m just sitting a duck.’

• “Make me a bow and teach me how to use it since my ranged options are quite limited”
• “Huh?”

‘Spells from the fire aspect are too flashy and just give away my position. Not good for when I still want to deal with things from a distance but don’t want to be seen. Air aspect is great for this but it’s so good at its job that I don’t think they’ll even know where they’re being attacked from. It’s likely they’ll rout and flee rather than face me. Earth aspect… No just not going to work… But I can make new anchor points with them if I need to… Water… Eh… Cryokinesis is a thought but propelling the crystals needs some involvement from other aspects like water or air, fire is just counterproductive… Too many extra steps.’

• “It’s as I said, do that and we’ll say that your debts are paid off. And you can have more of the wool.”
• “We don’t want to but, I don’t see a reason not to and if it will take some load off of our dues then I’ll be happy to.”
• “Splendid when are we starting?”
• “First we’ll see how well you can handle a bow, we can do that right now. Afterwards we need to get you a bow first. Then we can start with the training.”

---

Few minutes later Alicia was guided to an archery field where she would be evaluated. Handed with a plain training bow, despite it being the first time ever holding it she felt strange familiarity with the weapon, instinctively before Faenas was done with her explanation she nocked a blunthead let loose at one near targets marked on tree stumps. Although slightly off to the left and somewhat overshot away from the point she was aiming for, it was still on within the marked area. A successful hit though not perfect.

• “Huh I didn’t know you could shoot.”
• “I didn’t know either, I just imitated you guys and went with my guts?”

The uncomfortable gaze she turned to Alicia was akin to how someone would look at a raving lunatic.

• “Seriously! I mean it!”

Attributing as one of her weird quirks she carried on.

• “Anyway, don’t draw and then aim. Aim first with your eyes, then after you’ve locked sights you should start nocking and drawing. When nocking keep the tip pointed downwards. And then while drawing keep the bow straight as your spine, don’t tilt it. Posture: Left leg half a step forward right leg half step backwards. Draw all the way until you can’t pull any further or the dominant pulling hand with the arrow and the string has reached your face or sometimes your ears. Expecting something to fall after a single arrow is optimistic, keep firing until it doesn’t move anymore. You’ll have to learn where to shoot on your own, but the eyes, necks or anywhere that’s soft and likely to bleed are always good targets. All of this while not losing your visual lock on your target, but also not losing the awareness of your surroundings.”
• “Sounds… difficult.”
• “This is just the beginning. We do it all while on the run with something that’s relentlessly pursuing you, determined to make you it's afternoon snack. What you did there was a pinch draw, if you don’t want to burn your thumbs off you’ll need one of these or wear gloves. -”

She just noticed it now after being mentioned but she had a wooden ring on her thumb. It was there to facilitate the string drawing and to protect the skin.

“-  There are more or less two other drawing techniques than the pinch draw. The three finger draw³The mediterreanean draw. index finger on top of the arrow middle and ring finger underneath it and the thumb draw. Three finger draw helps if you’re having difficulties with the draw weight. And if you’re a ranger you’ll eventually learn how to do this.”

Completely facing away from the target she held her bow horizontally raising it up high and nocking an arrow. As she draws in the string she brings it down, using her hand holding the bow as a guide and twisting the hand drawing the strings behind her neck and head, pulls and releases it hitting the stump behind with having to turn towards it.⁴What she does here is a technique called Jarmakee.
Video one: Archery FAQ: Jarmakee, what and how?
Video two: Signalling Arrows and Jarmakee
In an unrelated note; I’m really bad at describing things.

• “We call it the flight shot, helpful when there’s a pack wargs bent on biting your thighs off. Most importantly you can shoot whatevers behind or next to you on the run without having to stop and break your stride. Another thing is it’s very helpful in shooting down cretins trying to climb up the tree you’re on. Shooting straight down is challenging in normal posture. Even if you can you won’t be able to do a full draw.”
• “That’s amazing. But also terrifying.”
• “You learn it faster when you’re forced to use it.”

Her voice and expressions made Alicia feel like she was speaking from experience…

• “That’s about all I have to comment on, how do you want your bow made?”
• “I’ll leave that to you.”

She turned to Ramiel who was chomping on a bush.

• “Then I’ll give it to your goat friend when it’s done.”
• “Thanks…”
• “There’s one more thing I wanted to ask about, you have time?”
• “Yeah, what is it?”
• “I heard you’ve made a new technique? From Ash’s sunder?”
• “Wha- Oh… That. I remember now. I wouldn’t agree that it’s something completely new but, what about it?”
• “Uhm, do you have a name for it?”
• “What, why?”
• “Well it was actually very helpful for our use and in order to spread it amongst ourselves, we need to refer to it and well… it not having a known name is quite problematic.”
• “Is that why you were talking strange things about debt? You were using that technique?”

With weak nods she answered Alicia’s question.

• “I mean I don’t mind anyone using it, but how exactly are you using it?”
• “Since it was more compatible with archery than sunder, so we started incorporating it to our expertise. It helps with the arrow’s flight, speed, power, accuracy… everything. We were already using  wind magic to guide our arrows but that spell is on a different level of control and versatility. It's almost turning into our main spell that we ranger corps use.”
• “You people are mainly going to use it for archery?”
• “Yes.”
• “Why not name it yourself.”
• “That would be misappropriating thievery!”

An annoyed sigh escaped from Alicia;

• “What was that over the back technique called again?”
• “Flight shot?”
• “Yeah that, since you’re the main people using it let’s just call it Elfshot.”⁵Historically Elfshot was a sudden pain in certain parts of the body, believed to be caused by m invisible elves shooting you from the forest. Modern explanation points to muscle cramps and arthritis among various medical conditions. No tree hobo magic.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfshot

  They were one of the inspirations for Tolkien in creating his version of the race, now predominantly used in modern media.

• “No! That’s way too embarrassing.”
• “That’s the name I’m going to give it and there’s nothing you can do about it unless you want to name it.”
• “That’s cheating!”

Amused by Ranger captain’s troubled expression Alicia had a smirk naturally forming on her face.

• “No it’s not. I told you that’s the name I’m giving it unless you have something better.”
• “Nooooo!”

The Gift of God

‘Waiting until the bow is done is gonna take a while is there any other ranged options I haven’t thought of…’

>Educement: Modified Venom Glands allow for projectile spitting.

‘There’s no harm in trying it out right? Six point cost though… are they each three points?’
>〔Parthenogenesis〕 Costs 5 points.
〔Modified venom Glands〕 Costs 1 point.

‘I mean it’s probably worth it to invest into it, considering how much it costs… Alright go ahead…’

‘Oh… Oh no. This is bad. REALLY BAD.’