Day 2 | Morning | Go Native

[Efren Lanville]

Efren moved towards the carved tree and began looking for some means of discovery.

The ants marched two by two without his notice or concern for now.

[Kannon]

[Easy Ecology or Survival]

[Efren Lanville]

Efren investigated the area around the carving to find a bearing.


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D2 Easy Survival, Roots Statement: 2eP+1eA+1eD 2 successes, 2 advantage

[Kannon]

The carving was a place where the sap of this particular tree was extracted. It didn't smell edible so the purpose of the extraction was unlikely a culinary one, perhsps for joining or coating. The cut was done minimalistically and methodically, without inflicting much damage on the tree, so probably for immediate use of the sap and little more.

[Laila Bridger]

"We sure they're not snacking on a local?"

[Efren Lanville]

Efren looked over to the ants after Laila spoke.

“See what you can from a safe distance.”

He then turned back to the carving.

He pulled his knife from its holder and gently tried to make a mark similar to the one he found.

[Hadrian Martikova]

Hadrian had seen this particular tree somewhere. Was it in a book from his youth? Or during one of his outings?

Ecology | Easy: 1eP+2eA+1eD 1 success, 2 advantage

[Laila Bridger]

Laila eyeballed the roiling ants. She had a sluhthrowing gun, a knife, and a shield the little bastards were definitely slow enough to get through.

So she started looking around for a long stick.

[Hadrian Martikova]

(Once the previous roll is accounted for. Can I also make a roll to determine the best way to drive off the ants? Maybe they're not fond of the mushrooms, maybe electricity or fire will scatter them?)

[Kannon]

He pulled his knife from its holder and gently tried to make a mark similar to the one he found.

The tree would start oozing sap once cut. It was strange, it had capillary structure but also flowed like dense liquid, with high viscosity that stopped just beyond the tip of the knife. To extend further it had to be stretched and pulled, like warm caramel, and it actually had similar colour, maybe darker. It smelled like... wet hair?

Hadrian had seen this particular tree somewhere. Was it in a book from his youth? Or during one of his outings?

Ecology | Easy: 1eP+2eA+1eD 1 success, 2 advantage

He had seen it yesterday - it was one of the glow trees Ambrose stopped to look at. The glow was practically imperceptible this time of day though, he recognised it by the way leaves high above stood apart from each other on any twig, as if mutually repelling.

Laila eyeballed the roiling ants. She had a sluhthrowing gun, a knife, and a shield the little bastards were definitely slow enough to get through.

So she started looking around for a long stick.

There were plenty of such sticks around.

[Hadrian: The ants could be burnt alright, with all the consequences, otherwise you'd either need to know more about this particular species - what attracts them and what repels them. I have already described them as peculiar.]

[Laila Bridger]

Laila simply used a stick to try to sweep the ants off of whatever it was they were focused on to get a glimpse- if any started moving up the stick, she was more than prepared to simply drop it.

[Hadrian Martikova]

Snip

He relays all. The glow, the tell which was the leaves. "Maybe they harvest the sap like oil? Or for its bioluminescent properties?"

[Kannon]

They did start moving up the stick, but lazily. At least they came into view - their abdomens were full of some amber liquid and they seemed to be dragging it around with some difficulty compared to how fast normal ants would be. They looked scary en masse from the distance, but up closer they seemed like docile buddies, though that in itself could be misleading. Beneath, there was some diagonal tee trunk that sported many sweetly aromatic flowers directly from its bark and the ants were all over them.

[Laila Bridger]

"I hope you Caladanians have some idea what the hell this means, because it's a new one on me. These bugs seem high."

She wasn't too optimistic- they didn't even seem to have a name for the manta birds- but one had to have some hope in life.

[Kannon]

Alas, she hit the nail there. One thing the Atreides seemed to have been sloppy about was real planetology. Perhaps because it was the Imperial purview and there was a big school for it in Corinth on Kaitain, perhaps it was some respect for pristine areas which is relatively uncommon among exploitatively minded nobles who squeezed their fiefs to their heart's content, knowing that if the Padishah Emperors were tax-happy, they could get another one somewhere else. The Harkonnen were applying this simple rule of Imperial economy to the hilt, and hence they stewarded Arrakis. The Atreides seemed to be too much in love with Caladan to abuse it, but it also seemed to be making them lax about exploring the parts they didn't mean to cultivate. And so the place they were in, with all its endemic species, was probably unknown to them.

[Hadrian Martikova]

"Huh?" He looks over at the ants and wonders. "Hmmmph, maybe."

He'll take some of the sap and let it drizzle on a stick. Then walk over to the ants with it.

(Any reaction?)

[Kannon]

Nope. They were perfectly happy with draining those flowers and apparently tanking all that sweet nectar in their asses.

[Hadrian Martikova]

"It was a thought. Maybe the flowers these things are so addicted too was the prize, and the sap a means to an end. But I'm officially at a loss."

He'll go back to searching for a trail to follow.

[Laila Bridger]

"Or the flowers distract the ants so whoever it was can collect sap in peace."

[Kannon]

"Or the flowers distract the ants so whoever it was can collect sap in peace."

Or they just harvested both, given how hard it was for the honeypot ants to run away. It seemed like such a nice foraging spot.

Seeking a trail left by the sap extractor seemed like a logical move. Except whoever this was knew the jungle like the back of their hand.

[Perception or Survival at Daunting with a Setback, anyone can try.]