Getting Jenny’s rabbit legs and pork chops had been relaxing. Ozzy was happy to get back to a simpler routine of butchering and bar-b-que. Joe was waiting for him at the pit, slowly stirring the coals in the center with a smoky shovel. The smoke golem looked up as he approached and smiled."Well, look who's back from hobnobbing with gods and angels. I was worried I was going to have to drag you back here and chain you down to get any work out of you.""Yeah, sorry about that, Joe. Too much has been going on. Glad it's all over and I can get back to the important stuff." Ozzy looked at the pit; if anything, it looked a bit better than before. "Pit feel like it's ready to go? No problems?""Nope. Job was a good one. The builders work hard, and something lit a fire under them. They tore the pit down to just materials, then rebuilt it perfectly. I've been stoking the fire to get the coals just right. Now all I need is a few dozen carcasses and I can get to work smoking them up."

Joe put one hand above his eyes as if he were looking far away, "Why, gollygeewillikers, is that a herd of sedge beasts over there? Seems like some young fellow ought to go beat their heads in and drag them back here for me. Just my opinion though; if you're all tired from talking and need to slack off some more, you go right ahead."Ozzy walked off laughing, "Even my thick skull got that hint. We'll have this full by nightfall. Don't you get your overalls in a bunch."The herd of mis-shapen animals were packed into the corral, and he could see hundreds more out in the nearby meadows, grazing on the sedge. He was starting to believe Rolly's theories about some magical circle of life shit. The beasts bred as quickly as he killed them and grew to adult-hood amazingly fast. Which meant it was time to get to work doing his part in the cycle that drained the area of dark mana. Opening the gate from the main corral he goaded a half dozen sedge beasts into the long narrow chute. He slid the rear gate behind the first one, picked up one of his hammers, and hit it in the forehead, killing it instantly. The handle of the hammer cracked.

...yawn...oh, are we back to this again?Fine, you get 1 experience for slaughtering a poor beast that couldn't move. And I guess 1 experience in STR. Keep going champ, really pushing yourself.

Advertising