Clearing for home II (Empyreal Demesne)

by **Vasin** on June 22nd, 2019, 11:35 am

Timestamp: 4th of Summer, 519 A.V.

Vasin stood at the edge of the clearing he had been working on the previous day. It was early in the day, the sun had just risen over the horizon and the cool morning air kissed his skin. A morning dew having touched the grass and green leaves of the forest all around. The three piles he made still at there quietly. Woody bush, bush/foliage, loose debris/dry leaves, and rocks of various shapes and sizes. From where he stood the whole place looked like it was undergoing a transformation. A transformation which had taken him the entire previous day to achieve. That work yesterday, however, was nothing compared to what he had to achieve today or the next couple of days. Trees of various sizes and large rocks sat in the way of where they wanted to build the new place. The longer they couldn't build they worse things would be, so he had to get this cleared out. Normally there would be no way for him to move this big stuff that was in the way. Lucky for Vasin, he had a nice big strong friend who would be of great help to this endeavor. Tack, his Mule who stood there not too far away from him.

Tack idly sat eating some boring feed Vasin had given him and didn't really pay Vasin much mind. All Vasin figured he had to do was get something loose or cut it down, and then he and Tack could drag it out of the way. Though the stumps would be an issue he would have to tackle as it came. Should he set them on fire? Try and chop and drag them out? He just wasn't sure, but he was willing to experiment a little. Vasin figured this would mainly all be straight forward as he scratched his chin, an ax in his right hand and a shovel propped up against one of the trees that would be staying. Deciding not to stay idle any longer he walked forward wanting to get underway. He walked up to a tree right in the middle of where they wanted to build and sized it up. He looked around himself and the tree trying to figure out how to tackle it. He wanted it to fall over, nice and simple, and so he looked around for clear paths he could let it fall. There was a clear direction a little northwest in direction. So, he lined himself up, brought the ax up and lined up his chop. His idea was to chop a wedge out of one side, then, chop the other side much more narrow. That way he would not be in the way when the tree came down.

He brought the ax back, his arms bent, muscles contracts, tightened, and then he lined up his motion. Vasin breathed out, energy building up in both his arms. Then, at the apex of this, he did it, he unleashed the potential energy. Swinging the ax at the tree with as much force as he could muster. The weight of the ax itself helped carry the swing forward before then, it reached the end of its short journey. The ax head impacted with a thwack sound, his chop complete as it embedded into the tree, chips of bark flew off as he then with some pull began to pull the ax out of the tree. He planted a foot on the base of the tree and pulled out, with a sluggish motion he popped it out before bringing it out again. He repeated as he did before, tightening his muscles, constricting them, all while bringing the ax back lining up his chop. He aimed for where he had aimed just before. Unleashing that energy once more he chopped into the tree with force embedding the ax head once again. This time, he didn't require the need for leverage, simply put he pulled it out hard.

by **Vasin** on June 22nd, 2019, 11:36 am

With each chop, he felt a sudden violent vibration come up his arms, which at first had given him pause, but he pushed through it before realizing he didn't need to give it his full force. His next swing demonstrated this as he chopped into it, and while not embedding as deep, it meant less of a violent vibration going up against his arm. Plus, it made pulling the ax out much easier and so he did so. He worked at this tree chopping at its trunk trying to shape a wedge shape into it. Repeated motion after motion, swing after swing, and connection after connection. The sound of these thwacks echoed all around him. They were loud and the sound of birds chirping their morning songs ceased. Birds went quiet when something was missing, it just so happened that this time it was him causing it. With another chop, he embedded it deep once more and had to give it a sudden wiggle sort of motion to ease it out of place. His muscles had time to rest from the previous day, but that didn't mean they had completely forgotten. He felt a soreness creeping up his arms and muscles he didn't realize he had. He breathed in and out with each chop as his wedge shape in the tree began to take shape. It was messy, imprecise, but it didn't need to be for what he was doing. That was at least what he believed as he worked up a sweat on this tree alone.

Vasin was about to take another swing and paused for a moment, the ax felt heavy in his hands and he took a look at the wedge he had chopped out of the tree. He stroked his beard and considered it for a moment. Surely this would be enough? He could hear a slight creaking from the tree in front of him. So wisely with that in mind, he got around the tree is it from the other side of where he had been chopping. Now it was time to have the tree be completely chopped down. So, he raised his ax, brought it back, storing that energy in his arms flexing them before unleashing his chop. The ax flew and then impacted a loud sound as he began to chip away at the other side now. A much more narrow path he was cutting into it. Chop after chop came as he was careful to watch for the tree. However, as he gave it yet another chop and then pulled back the creaking became really loud. Snap! The tree gave way before he could finish cutting through to the other side. It began to list over as splinters flew up. Falling in the direction he had cut for it. Branches crashed and leaves rustled as Vasin decided to take a couple of steps back.

The tree fell to the ground felled by his ax with a massive crash and a vibration in the ground. Then, after all that commotion it was silent say for the nearby sound of waves rolling onto the shore. Vasin stood for a moment looking at the tree and gripped his ax. Walking over to his bare trunk he tried to give it a nudge only to find he couldn't really make it budge an inch. Then he looked over at Tack and recalled this was the reason he had brought him over. Tack was giving him a look from across the way having had their attention grabbed by the large commotion. If Vasin and Tack worked together they could get this tree out of the way. Vasin went and got some thick sturdy rope and Tack's harness. It was easy to find among the supplies and would be useful for what he was about to try. Going up to Tack he would get them all harnessed up and then looked them over."Alright Tack, hold still. I'm going to need to put this rope on you so we can drag that tree out of here." he explained though Tack didn't seem to react. Thus, Vasin went about setting up the rope with Tack attaching it around him and using his harness. Then, he took the remaining length of rope and Tack's lead before leading him over to the tree.

by **Vasin** on June 22nd, 2019, 11:36 am

Vasin was trying to go about this as simply as possible, and he wasn't even sure about how to motivate Tack into pulling the tree. A thought that occurred to him as he began to wrap the other end of the rope around the tree and tie a knot. He gave it a yank to make sure it was secure and then followed it up to Tack before taking a hold of his lead again. Maybe if he just tried to walk Tack forward it would work? He tried that and Tack gave a couple of steps forward though stopped moving the moment the rope ran out of slack. But, he did notice the tree budged a little."Come on Tack. pull the tree!" Vasin said trying to encourage them forward with a tug to which Tack refused to comply."Alright, how about this?" Vasin would reach into his pocket and pull out a trail biscuit."Here, if you pull that tree I will give you this." Vasin waved the travel biscuit in front of Tack gently and tantalizingly. Tack had interest in his eyes and began to pull forward. It was slow, but Tack was managing it following where ever that travel biscuit went. Vasin would pinch off a piece of it every now and again to feed to Tack and properly motivate him. He and Tack managed to bring the tree over to the beach where the supplies where and he untied the tree off to the side.

For their trouble, Vasin gave Tack the rest of the biscuit before tying them up nearby so he wouldn't wander off. Knowing how to properly motivate Tack now was useful, though he didn't have an endless supply of biscuits on hand... He would need to figure something out. But! In the meantime, he had a few more trees to cut down. Gripping the ax with two hands Vasin decided on a novel approach. He approached and sized up another tree nearby. It was close to where the first tree had gone down, and also directly in the way. Aside from training his body, he was going to hone his other skills. Vasin had bought a war ax not too long ago, but he had never gotten a chance to practice with it. This wood cutting ax was a different size, weight, and handling... but there were some principles he figured he could learn about the war ax from this. The first thing he did was square up to the tree. A forward stance, knees bent a little to store up some energy. His feet not flat, but firm and springy. Instead of winding back so much he would do less so. Then, he attacked it having stored up that energy in his arms. He gave it a horizontal chop his left side to it so he could get the best angle on it.

The ax head went forth his hands lower on the handle for better leverage now. It impacted, and it embedded once more chopped firmly into the wood of the tree. Then, using his mobile stance he shoved his foot up against the tree and pulled back. Gaining his balance soon after he gave it another, chopping into the tree imagining that in this situation he was chopping at the abdomen or chest of someone in a fight. With precision, he hit the same spot again with much of his strength. It was in, and then he used leverage to pull out. Like a lever, he pushed forward popping it out at an angle then pulled back. he proceeded to use this tree like it was a sparring dummy at he chopped away at it. he hoped he didn't look too silly. But, as he went he didn't do it unchanging his stance or moves. He consistently adjusted his grip when he found the first tone awkward. He tested the spacing between his hands with each chop. He adjusted his stance, how far away he was, and how firm his stance should be when doing this sort of swing. He wanted to get all three of these things down, even if he was practicing on a tree. He wasn't refined or anything, but when it came to ax like weapons, he was starting to get a better idea of their handling.

by **Vasin** on June 22nd, 2019, 11:37 am

Vasin was relentless of his chopping down this tree, having gotten into the right frame of mind. Watching the damage each of his adjusted ax swings did. Adjusting and experimenting as he went seeing what sort of application this could have for his war ax. Thwack! Thwack! Vasin breathed out having worked up a real sweat as he wiped his forehead and then resumed his assault of this tree. But, as he reached the end he took pause seeing that he had cut deep enough into the tree. So, he then squared up to the other side and aimed his chops. This time, he changed stances and chopped at it from his left side. He used some of what he learned from chopping at it from the right for the left. It was different, for certain it was like trying to track your movements in a mirror. It just felt off, but he adjusted trying to make it not feel so off as he dug into this tree with the ax. From this side, it took a lot less time than the other as he began to hear this tree creak and crack. Then, came a snap sound just on the last swing and Vasin pulled back stepping back in a hurry.

This tree too began to list, snap, and then crash to the ground in a thunderous way. It impacted the ground vibrating it with a thud that Vasin could practically feel. He stood there for a moment when he realized the next step! That next step was clearly to go get Tack so that is what he did. Bringing Tack over to the felled tree Vasin tied the tree up with the rope so Tack could pull it over the ground. These trees were a problem for Vasin to carry, but they were small enough that he just needed Tack at the moment. Though, as he looked while tying the rope around the tree there were some that could be some trouble... But Vasin would deal with that as he came to it. So, with the tree tied up, Vasin got out some travel biscuit and took hold of Tack's lead. Bribing tack with the biscuit he got him to start pulling the felled tree over the ground. Though as they went Vasin noticed that the tree got caught on another tree on the way out."One second..." he would mutter as he went back to go and deal with the problem. What he found was that the branches had caught up on another tree and were not budging. What Vasin did was he got into a pose.

Going for an overhead strike sort of like how he imagined he would do so with a war ax he brought it down. Chop! He began to cut the branches off that were blocking their progress. With a few chops of his ax for overhead strikes, he tried to make it as fluid as possible. The weight of the ax wanted to come down, so he used the momentum of that to help him out a little. After chopping off five branches he went back up to Tack and grabbed the lead, Walking him forward the tree was now free and they dragged it the rest of the way."You are doing good work today Tack." Vasin praised petting Tack on the head before giving him a piece of the travel biscuit. Tack seemed receptive to one of them at least and indifferent to the other for now. So, deciding to get this job done Vasin had Tack drag the tree over to the other one on the beach. There he untied it and would leave it there for later use. After that Vasin decided to take a short break at the tree where he had left the shovel. He got out his lunch and waterskin and would eat and drink refreshing himself.

by **Vasin** on June 22nd, 2019, 11:38 am

After taking his break Vasin would head back into the area he was clearing for his friends. Treating it as if he was practicing with his war ax Vasin would size up another tree that way in the way of where they wanted to build. He had refreshed himself with a break, water, and meal and was ready to go again even if his limbs were growing tired from use. He would do the same as he had done before. Chopping away at a tree forming a wedge into it with each chop. To do this he landed blows on it as if he was handling a war ax. It was slow going, but he was making progress to be sure. One tree after another fell to his ax and after he took one down after another he would have Tack help him drag it back to the beach. Tack staying in the shade between sessions to keep cool. Vasin made sure to let him have plenty of water for his hard work. There were a couple of times when the trees seemed too big for Tack to handle. But, Vasin would chop off branches to lighten the load and make them easier to drag from not having branches jabbing out everywhere. One by one they would bring these felled trees to the beach.

Eventually, all that was left for them was what those trees left behind. Stumps stubbornly stuck in the ground where trees had once stood. Vasin grabbed hold of his shovel and would start trying to dig the stumps out. His technique was simple and straight forward. he would shove the shovel into the dirt with a shove from his foot, then lift up. Slowly he would dig out around each stump to expose the roots and would dig around said roots. Slowly he chizzled the stumps out of the dirt leaving their roots more or less exposed. He would also more or less try and dig under the stump. He had an idea to try and burn it but decided that could cause more trouble then it would be worth. After he had dug out around the stump he would get his ax and chop away at the roots. He would whack at the thick roots where ever he saw them trying to cut them up as best he could so he could pull the stump out. But some were just too far under and he could not get to them with his ax. So he would have to go back and get his hatchet for close in work. Hands and knees he would try and get what he could not with the ax and chop away chizzling at that one leaving flakes on dirt. After loosening the stumps as best he could each time he would go and get Tack.

On the first one what he did was tied the rope that had been used for the trees around the stump and then ease Tack forward. The stump would budge on the first try on the first one. However, Tack could go no further, even with some bribing with travel biscuit. So, Vasin went back in and worked away at the stump. Chopping at it with hatchet and ax and trying to leverage it out a little with his shovel. Working it over a little more Vasin would have chopped a few roots that were exposed after the budge that he didn't see before. With that done he went back up to Tack and plied them with some food and they were on the move again. Snapping sounds could be heard, Tack's hooves dug into the dirt, and eventually after a lot of blood and sweat the stump came out of the ground leaving a hole behind. Vasin and tack would then bring it back to the beach with the lumber. They could probably at least use it for firewood or something related. Vasin and Tack would go at it until they had dug out and pulled out each stump that was in the way. Byt the time they were done the sun was starting to set and the both of them were exhausted taking a rest over by the camp.

Plotnotes · by **Calla Davin** on August 27th, 2019, 6:21 am

Special Delivery!

Vasin :

Additional Comments: Another good, highly detailed thread. I really enjoyed how Vasin talks to Tack like he's another person. So cute!

I didn't award war axe XP as you requested for two reasons: 1. Vasin is not actually using a war axe and 2. Although pretending the trees are sparring dummies, Vasin is not actually using the axe in a combat sense. I did, however, try to compensate by giving you plenty of axe-related lores! Please message me if you have any questions about your grade, and don't forget to edit your post in the grade request thread.

Skills	XP
Animal Husbandry	1
Body Building	2
Endurance	1
Logging	4

Solo Clearing for home II (Empyreal Demesne)