An average day in a rangers life - something a bit different

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Rowan
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2017 10:28 am

An average day in a rangers life - something a bit different

Post by Rowan »

Hello fellow rangers. Today a went on a hike in a local forest because I had decided that todays lunch had to consist of whatever I could gather in the wild. I really got into the feeling of a ranger whilst on my trekk so when I got home I decided to write it down as if I was my persona (I love to wirte fantasy). Now I changed a few things from reality: I didn't have a bedroll instead I had a backpack, I didn't bring a waterskin, but I had a canteen, I also didn't bring my wooden cup but I had the canteen cup and last but not least, I wore mdoern clothes.... Still in the style of what a ranger would wear, but still modern. Anyways I hope y'all will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and please give me some feedback both on the writing but also on the things I did today :)

The rainy weather had made the birds stop singing, but Rowan wouldn’t have noticed them even if they did. His eyes were fixated at the ground in search of wild edibles he could gather for lunch. He had already managed to find some wood sorrel and clover. Out of the corner of his eye Rowan noticed some plantain growing at the edge of the path. Plantain was edible, but he didn’t usually eat it in salads because of it’s harsh aftertaste, but he had had a horribly sore throat the last couple days, and plantain had many medicinal uses one of which was easing up the throat, so he grabbed some of the younger shoots and walked on. A wind gust blew the rain into his face and he pulled his hood down tighter around his face. In these wet and amp conditions he wouldn’t be able to start a fire so he would have to forget about the boiled mussels he had been dreaming off since he woke up this morning. His pouch was slowly starting to fill with herbs, by now he had a handful of different edibles and he knew that there was a lake further ahead which had some cattails in it. Rowan noticed a quick movement in front of him and looked up. It was three young pheasants running across the trail whilst gobbling to each other. Rowan smiled to himself, it made him happy to see the forest teeming with life. His eyes returned to their search for food. He spotted a burdock plant, but decided to pass it up, he didn’t feel like spending so much time digging the root up when he couldn’t even cook it properly, and raw burdock root was rather chewy. The forest started to open up a bit and new types of plants started to appear. Quickly Rowan spotted a bunch of dandelion Dandelion wasn’t the tastiest of plants, but it would do. Carefully he picked the freshest shoots and looked around. The area was filled with different types of mushrooms, but Rowan had little to no knowledge about any of them. He should have spend more time studying the different types of edible mushrooms since they were the most abundant type of food around at this time of the year, but there was nothing he could do about that now, he would just have to find someone who could teach him at the next gathering. The rain started to wear off as he approached the small lake. Even this late in the year, there was still a few green cattails left. Rowan quickly scouted the area before he left the cover of the woods and wandered down by the shore. He grabbed a green cattail shoot and pulled it out of the ground. After cutting the root off he started to peel the leafs from the stem in order to get into the soft hard, but after he had removed all of the leaves, he noticed that what should have been the soft heart of the cattail stem, was now hard and inedible. His heart sank from his chest. He grabbed another shoot and tried the same all over again hoping to see a different result, but to his disappointment this shoot too had turned hard. Rowan squatted down on the ground to think. He was thirsty. He loosened his waterskin from its place and drank. The water filled his mouth and as he sank he felt refreshed and his mind became clear. He had needed this. Now he could concentrate on his options. He could dig up some cattail roots, but he would have to cook them and even though the rain had stopped, the ground and the wood was still to wet to start a fire his only solution seemed to be to gather even more wild herbs to eat. Rowan stood up and put his waterskin back before he walked off.
After some time he felt his stomach rumbling. The sun was standing high on the sky, but Rowan had no way of knowing that since the clouds covered the entire sky in a gray cloth. He had now gathered enough herbs to make a small meal. Rowan found a dead tree and sat on it. He grabbed his pouch with the freshly collected herbs and started eating. The refreshing taste of the woodsorrel covered the harsh aftertaste from the plantain just as he had hoped. The salad was a bit bland and could have used some more different consistencies, but as he couldn’t gather any cattail heart and he hadn’t found any nuts, this was all that he had. After finishing his salad Rowan looked around. Even though it was in the midst of fall, most of the beech trees still bore beautifully green leaves. Beech trees! Why had he not thought of this before. Rowan knelt down and searched the ground and sure enough, here he found tons of the small nuts from the beech trees. Quickly he gathered a couple handfuls and placed them in his wooden cup. He sat back up on the dead tree and started enjoying his newly found treats, he just wished he had thought of it earlier. After eating his cupful of nuts he drank some water and removed his bedroll from his back. He laid down on the fallen tree and placed the bedroll under his head as a pillow and looked up at the trees just enjoying nature and the birds who had just recently started singing again after the rain had stopped. The trees were swaying in the wind, it almost looked like they were dancing to the sound of the birds. Dancing, suddenly his mind were somewhere entirely different. He started thinking of a girl he had just recently met in a town nearby. There was to be a ball in the town’s inn soon and he had planned to go there and if all went well he would ask the girl for a dance. A big wet drop hit his forehead and woke him up from his daydreaming. He decided to move on and let his thoughts go to rest. He stood up and swung his bedroll over his back again. Slowly but steadily he trekked on into the wild.
Rowan
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2017 10:28 am

Re: An average day in a rangers life - something a bit different

Post by Rowan »

It was a beautiful day
It was a beautiful day
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Iodo
Thangailhir
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Re: An average day in a rangers life - something a bit different

Post by Iodo »

Very good writeup, impressive that you managed to find enough food for lunch, I only have basic knolige of one or two things that are edible and think I will always rely on stuff I bring with me. In school I did a course on outdoor activities and my teacher had trained in the army, there'd was no place and no conditions he couldn't light a fire with only flint and steel, so it should be possible to cook lunch. Sadly I can hardly light a fire even with dry wood but am learning.
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Elleth
êphal ki-*raznahê
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Re: An average day in a rangers life - something a bit different

Post by Elleth »

Oh that sounds like a lovely day! And not a bad repast at all. :)
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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