Billy sat down, intentionally choosing a spot that kept the table between him and Ozzy. Not that he was worried at all - it was just prudent to give the huge man who killed for a living a bit of room when he was getting over being dead.

"Sure, Ozzy, no problem. What can I help you with?"

"I'm just a bit frustrated, Billy. I want to do my job better, but it's tough. I only have a couple of skills, and it's really hard to deal with the sedgebeasts. I can barely kill them when I use my special skill and they are immobilized. But they don't always die in one hit. Then I have to scramble backwards and try to finish them off with that clumsy hammer. Even with Lyle helping I've almost died several times before this one got me. You think maybe you can give me a combat skill, like Great Hammer? Then I could finish them off better, and not have to die again."

"That's a real good point, Ozzy. I'll pass that one upstairs. But for now I've got to say no. The guys in HR really worked hard to maximize your skills for working. Remember, more work means more money at the end. It's all a trade off. If I gave you a combat skill, WALLY would just take something else away. What if that was one of your butchering skills? I'd have to use you for digging ditches. Neither of us would like that - just can't chance it."

"But tell you what, as we expand we'll be bringing in more people. Maybe we'll get someone else to take over chopping up the carcasses and have you just kill the cows all day. If we take away your butchering skills, maybe we could give you something that would go along with your slaughter skill. "

"Gee, hadn't thought of it that way, Billy. And wow, you're so right; I don't want to lose any of my skills. So it's all a trade off? Gain something - lose something? Lose something - gain something?"

"Yep, that's how it works, Ozzy. WALLY made the rules and even ACME has to follow them."

Ozzy nodded. "Well, glad we had this talk Billy. It helped me get a few things clear in my head. I'll get back to work now. Just have to be really careful. Have to go make a new sledgehammer. Sedgebull broke the last one." Ozzy walked off leaving Billy wondering what that had all been about. Not that it mattered. If he kept doing his job bludgeoning cows, Billy didn't mind a little talk now and then. Results mattered - and so far Ozzy was ahead of schedule and getting faster.

The contract to sell hides and meat to the Imperial Legions was a bright point in Billy's operation and it brought in cash. That cash was needed for a hundred other things. He had 25 serfs and he could work them 10 hours a day - 12 if he pushed it a bit and cranked up the "feel good" effect. But that had its own problems. He was pretty sure Ozzy had noticed. You don't go from 'everything is wonderful' to 'the world is a dark place and I feel dead inside' without noticing the contrast. But in a couple of hours the Endure skill would have him smiling again.

That brief talk gave Ozzy some bits of information. The black mood he woke up with was good for something - Ozzy's cynical side was in full force. He was questioning anything Billy had ever told them and he could draw some conclusions.

First, that Billy was lying. Ozzy had gained a primary skill and hadn't lost anything. Which meant Billy could let them all have combat skills, but wasn't going to. ACME didn't want them to have weapons kills.

The second thing he realized was this wasn't going to be like earlier games where you were a Player who got a job working for someone else. Before, they could spend some time adventuring or crafting. Not so this time. They were meant to be serfs working for the corporation 24/7. ACME was going to keep them under control by limiting what they could do.

Third, they were limited by a lack of information. Those fees would mean Contract Workers would just stay in game and not access outside sources.

It was going to take time, but they needed to push to find out what they could do and what they couldn't. The Slimenator got a spiffy title and new skill. Ozzy had learned to toss cabers. What else was there? Each skill represented a way to gain more stats. Enough stats gained and maybe combat wouldn't be as impossible as the poor guy killing beavers made it out to be.

Remembering he had some money, courtesy of the mysterious and generous Dr. Holmes, he went into the village proper. The first day they'd all gone shopping - but they'd also been told to by Billy. After that he'd lost interest - always focused on his work. He needed to remember that.

Besides the General Store, which seemed to have a bit of everything, the village contained a food market that operated a couple of mornings a week, and a dozen buildings that housed shops or craftsmen. On the east side of the village the blacksmith, feed store, and livery stable were near each other. A small building attatched to the livery had a sign saying, 'Imperial Courier Service.' But peeking in a window showed it to be empty.

A thin, three-story building was home to the Scribe where Billy picked up his vellum and ink pots. A plaque attatched to the wall by the door declared that this was also the Assay Office, Land Claims Office, and local Mage Guild officer. An alchemist and tin smith each had half of a large building. A gristmill was set up along the river running on the west side of town.

A quick visit to the Scribe got him a small blank scroll of vellum and a writing stick. The writing stick was awkward to use for a lot of writing, being basically a thick reed with a charred end. After a few sentences you had to burn the end in a candle before continuing. Good enough, he was just writing some notes to himself. He just needed to make sure he read them every morning. He wasn't sure just how far the 'Be happy, don't worry' effect would go, so he was taking precautions.

-Pay attention to what Billy says but don't trust him.

-You aren't really happy.

-Don't show anyone your character sheet.

-Talk to Rory, Suzy, and Ben every day.

-Die if you need clarity.

That done, he went to the general store. He purched a handsaw, file, small wood drill and some strong twine. Billy hadn't given in about buying another sledgehammer, so he was going to need to fix the broken handles on the three he had. The heads were just cheap iron, but they'd last a while. There was no shortage of hardwood limbs for handles. He worked the rest of the moring repairing sledgehammers.

After a bit he suddenly felt much better and started whistling as he sanded down another rough oak branch. Life was good and the work was easy. Three sturdy handles later he set about tapering the ends to fit into the sockets on the hammer heads. Then a wedge was pounded in the top to hold the head on the handle. For good measure he wound the twine several times around the handles and up and over the heads. They'd do for now. He was rewarded for his work.

Because you are repairing the tools of your trade as instructed by Boss Billy, you have earned +15 EP in Toolcrafting. Earn another 35 EP to gain Toolcrafting as a tertiary skill. Tool Crafting is governed by Manual Deterity.

You have gained +15 EP in Manual Deterity

Now isn't that interesting? Could he get more EP repairing other tools? One of the lumberjacks had broken the haft on an axe. He spent another half hour repairing the axe, but gained nothing from doing so. Was that because Billy hadn't told him to fix the axe or because it wasn't a tool he used? both? Another thing to experiment with and keep to himself.

Time to go find Lyle, fix the gate on the chute, and get to work killing sedgebeasts.

Suzette had a bit of trouble when she went to look at the herb she had gathered the day before, with which she subsequently poisoned Ozzy. Two sedgebeasts were grazing in the area where she had found the husk, and cropped all the vegetation in the blackened patch close to the ground. One was even tearing up the sod with a large hoof and eating the roots of the plants. The other was working it's way around the tree. She just barely managed to snag a portion of vine with some of the leaves before the beast ate all of it.

Examining the leaves closely, she could see dark patches and black veins on the undersides of the leaves.

By carefully examinging herbs you have harvested you have learned to recognize plants tainted by dark magic. And by noting the results of an experiment, you have learned how to poison a wound in such a way that only someone familiar with tainted herbs could detect such poisoning.

You have gained 25 EP in Poisoning.

You have earned 25 EP in Alchemy (Hermetic)

You have gained 50 EP in INT.

Now if she only knew more about dark magic. Was there light magic if there was dark magic? Grey Magic? Time to gather more herbs, and pay close attention to any other darkened areas of vegetation.

She had another list of things to get for Granya. Strolling along the river bank turned up wild carrots and asparagus. Black berries were easy to find, although she had to reach into the bushes to harvest the good ones. Birds had pecked at the easy to get berries.

Away from the river a bit, she found a large berry bush of a different type. It had bright green leaves and few thorns. The fruit was larger than blackberries, with a deep purple look to the berries which grew in large bunches of a dozen berries in banana-shaped grouping. Hardly any had been ruined by birds. Maybe they tasted bad? She gathered a few groups of berries and was wondering about trying one when she heard a sound behind her.

A girls was standing a few feet away. She was familiar - Suzette had seen her walking around the village and she had come into the tavern once. She was wearing clothes similar to the townsfolk, except for a very good pair of sturdy knee high boots, light leather gloves, and a large cloth worn around her neck that was pulled up over her mouth. She looked to be about 14.

"Oh boy, you so don't want to be picking those, no you don't. Step away back up here, right."

The worry in the girl's voice convinced Suzette to do what she said rather than asking questions. She stepped over by her, and nearly fell, suddenly dizzy. "Oh, yeah, you touched them, I can see the stains on your fingers and you're getting light headed already." The girl grabbed the basket and set it down, reached into her apron and came out with a small vial and a towel. "Going to clean this off, then get an anti-dote into you." So saying, she poured a milky white liquid on Suzette's hand and started cleaning off the berry juice with the cloth. "How you aren't laying stiff on the ground is beyond me. Must have a bit of resistance in you."

Suzette sat down on the ground, unable to feel her hand and legs at all. "Resistunz? Toower whut?" Her tonge also felt odd.

"To Phytolaccaceae Belladona, a cross breed of two lesser poisonous plants. Who in hell thought of crossing Belladona with Pokeweed had to be crazy. But dad uses some of it and you're damned lucky I came out to pick a berry cluster today. Yes, you are. Now drink this."

A second bottle was produced, this one a green liquid with a minty smell. The girl didn't hand it to Suzette, instead she unstopped the bottle, pulled her head back and jammed bottle in her mouth. "Swallow all of it." Suzette didn't have much choice and downed the small bottle, before gasping. She had almost blacked out, but immediately felt better. The girl had one hand on her forehead, and the other on her wrist. "Pulse is coming back up and you are regaining heat. Should be fine. Boy were you stupid though! Give it a minute and I'll show you why."

It took about five minutes for Suzette to feel normal again, with feeling coming back into her legs, hands, and other parts of her body that had been affected. When she felt she could talk again, she thanked the girl. "Yes, that was stupid. I had no idea. I really owe you one. Was that going to kill me?"

"Nope. Just make you wish you were dead. You'd have been laying on the ground unable to move for a good amount of time and probably be bear food sometime in the middle of the night. Or something worse. A lot of predators will swing by these bushes looking for an easy meal. Come see. Oh, and yeah, you do owe me, or rather my dad. You can settle up with him for a bottle of universal cleaning fluid and minor toxin anti-dote."

"I'll find a way to pay. I'm Suzette by the way"

"Nice to meet you, Suzette. I'm Zephyr, but everyone just usually calls me Zeph."

The girl walked over to the bushes, bent over and picked up a bird from the long grass. "See, still alive, but it's not going to be able to move. Easy pickins just like you would have been. Look around and try not to step on any. We'll see if we can save a few. I hate to leave them. "

The two found a half dozen small birds in the grass, barely able to blink. After a last look around, she pointed to a tree about 20 yards away. "We'll take them over there. There's a big nest in the Y of that tree where I put the poor things. A Yairdbird built it one year, but they never stay in the same place year to year. I lined the bottom with some 'wake-me-up' root. The smell will bring them around quicker.

The Yairdbird nest was over three feet across and about seven feet up in the tree. Suzette wondered just how big a Yairdbird was. "You're tall. I usually have to climb the tree with a basket. Just take each one and sort of set them on the inside lip of the nest and let them roll in. Suzette did so, but as she set the last bird on the lip of the nest they heard an awful sound, like the squawk of a bird followed by a horrible crunching sound. Both women stepped back immediately as the sounds continued.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar had gone to sleep after catching and eating three squirrels and a very unlucky groundhog. Looking for a place to curl up it had found the perfect nest, complete with the bodies of several birds. A bit old it thought, but that just gives them a different taste. It had almost finished its nap when woken up by the first of several more birds - alive ones! - being dropped into its nest. The VHC was so hungry. It grabbed the first one and took a bite causing the bird to give one last sound before it died.

Before it could start on its next snack, it heard noises outside its nest. Slithering over to the edge it reared up to get a better look.

Wasting not time, the VHC spat a large glob of paralyzing webs at them. The webs hit the small one in her legs, causing her to fall over.

Fear seized Suzette as some monstrous thing rose up from the nest and spat a white glob towards them. Zephyr was hit and what turned out to be sticky webs wrapped around her legs. She turned her back on the monster and started to try and wipe off the webs so they could run, but Zephyr screamed at her: "No, they're toxic! I can feel it through my pants. Some sort of paralyzing agent." She screamed as Suzette heard a 'thud' behind her. Turning her head she saw a large caterpillar hit the ground and begin moving towards them. A multi-eyed head, with two pinchers on either side of a gaping maw, was mounted on a body over a foot thick.

Suzette simply grabbed Zephyr by the back of her heavy leather shirt and started dragging her away. They weren't moving really fast, but neither was the caterpillar. Her hands free, Zephyr pulled a vial out of her belt and splashed it on the webs. They smoked and caught fire, but they parted. "Oh god that burns like a wasp in your bra. Let me go. I can run now."

Quickly, the VHC spat out more webs. Suzette saw them flying at them, saw the young girl starting to run, and stepped between her and the webs. Her left arm was tangled and her entwined legs brought her to her knees. She dropped her basket on the ground and yelled at Zephyr who had stopped. "Run! Get away! Don't stand around and let it get both of us. Run dammit. Find your Dad." Zephyr nodded, and ran for the safety of the town.

It only took a bit of webbing to touch a meat-beast to paralyze it - and this one was nearly covered. The VHC opened it's maw very wide and opened it's pinchers.

Suzette could only kneel where she was as the thing moved towards her like some horrible inch worm. Only her right arm was free, and she could barely move it - but she could move it some. She reached into her basket and fumbled to grasp a bunch of the pokeweed berries. Slowly bringing her arm out she squeezed her hand. She could feel the numbness spreading. As the creature opened its mouth wide and moved to bite her she thrust her arm as deep as she could into it's maw and squeezed again. The caterpillar ripped off her arm at the shoulder and began chewing. Suzette didn't feel a thing.

The VHC hadn't experienced this feeling before. The irony was that almost all its prey knew just how it was feeling. Its vision blurred and it became harder and harder to move. Its instincts convinced it to skip feeding on the Bad-Food-Meat-Beast and find someplace to curl up. It made it to the river bank, looking for a muddy hole of some sort, but the incline was it's undoing and it rolled down the bank and into the river. The current carried it away, it's legs twitching but not able to move further.

At a spot near the Yairdbird nest, a body faded away and was replaced by a headstone. A basket of herbs and berries sat nearby.

You have died. But you get a choice! Choose from : A) Blood loss from the amputation of your right arm. 2) Suffocation from webbing on your throat and face. 3) Massive overdose of paralytic poisons.

Really, you should get to die three times but we're being stingy today.

Oh, and some other things happend. Check your summary and get back to us.