Day 646: jumped

Day 646:

Upon climbing the stairs out of my current sleeping chamber this morning I was attacked by six zombies, and a pony-sized spider. I took care of them but they did singe me when they got too close to the light and temporarily caught fire.

(Side note: being set on fire by flaming zombie who needs a hug is not fun.)

Not long after that, I was attacked by a band of murderers who came over the hill.

I don’t think they’re talented to sic zombies on me — plus the zombies seemed to come from this side of the river, while the murderers were on the other side — but I’m going to keep an eye out for this trend in the future.

Day 645: stairways to nowhere

Day 645:

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the holes I’ve dug into the earth to mine out the valuable stone inside when they don’t go anywhere useful.

Right now I’m building stairways down because, well, if someone falls down there (even a monster), they should be able to get back up. That’s just ethical mining.

But it means I’m building stairwells that often end at the surface of a wall or the edge of a cliff, because the end of the stairwell is accessible that way, even if it’s not the ideal way to build out an area.

I’d put in floors like I do for my main chambers, but let’s face it: nobody like a mine where the floors don’t line up, so I prefer not to put in floors unless they immediately connect to other floors.

Which, for all I know, this one might. It’s only across the river from the places I’ve already dug out, so there’s no good reason they can’t connect sometime in the future.

Just not tonight.

Day 644: mushrooms under trees

Day 644:

I found some mushrooms growing under the trees near where I’m landscaping. They seem like the same ones I’ve boiled back in the cave, which haven’t made me sick yet. It was really telling how dark the canopy of trees make this area, though, since from what I can tell, these mushrooms only grow in the darkest of locations.

I have no qualms about harvesting them because I’ll be taking a few of the trees out anyway. When it’s that dark, anything could be hiding in the shadows, and that’s not a good way to survive in this place.

Day 643: birds and more birds

Day 643:

The only true bird I’ve seen here has been the ducken. (The nightmarish flying things that attack at night appear to have membranes for wings and no feathers.)

The place where I’m digging and clearing right now has so many duckens that they sleep on me at night. And I don’t mean like one or two curl up behind my knees like a dog. I mean I’m at the bottom of a pile of ducken. Thank the stars that they don’t poop on everything.

They are hot and they don’t settle very well so I’m constantly sweating and being stepped on and getting nudged and quacked at all night. It doesn’t make for the best sleeping arrangements. I’ve tried blocking them from the chamber but they’re getting in anyway somehow. I need to look for holes tomorrow, when I’m done clearing this area. (If I’m done tomorrow.)

Narbonic Perfect Collection Volume 1, by Shaenon K. Garrity

Narbonic Perfect Collection Volume 1 is the first in a two volume series capturing all of the webcomics in Shaenon K. Garrity’s Narbonic series in print.

Helen Narbon is:

  • A strong female character not afraid to be ruthless or gentle when needed
  • A scientist (okay, a mad scientist) with skills in biology, physics, and many other areas of study</li
  • A loyal friend and occasional mischief maker
  • My personal definition of mad scientist.

Seriously, I imprinted on her like a duckling on a roomba.

Dave Davenport is the actual main character of the Narbonic series, as he is Helen’s sanest henchman (that’s not saying much, the other two are a college student and a gerbil with an IQ of 250) and the progenitor of the plot line. The story starts with Dave becoming Helen’s “IT guy” and proceeds through numerous adventures involving gender swapping, taking over the moon, battling Helen’s mother, taking on the secret society of Daves, and going to Helen’s 10th class reunion.

It’s, um, complicated working for Helen.

But oh heavens do I look up to her.