Welcome to Gaia! ::

Bored was a new one on Death. He'd never really been "bored" before, only uninterested. But having settled with his lifemate and had a family, something many others who'd crossed his path had also wanted, he'd found himself going soft, getting fat, becoming...bored. The rumor of the Stag Never Idle's requests had reached him, and he felt his bones begging for something to do. Armed with a list, the buck headed to a part of the swamp the elder had alluded to.

You follow the sound of buzzing to a likely-looking hive. Procure a chunk of wax yourself, but spend the rest of the day nursing your stings (try again tomorrow) Success!

Ah ha! A hive! This was definitely on Never Idle's list. A chunk of beeswax for sealing and waterproofing The four leaf clover's magic was already working. Getting the beeswax would prove challenging however, as the hive was swarming with large wasps. The buck considered his options. He couldn't just walk away, that would be wasting the luck his clover had provided. There wasn't anyone he could find in a timely manner, his children scattered all over and his lifemate was out with the pair of twins she'd taken in, she'd never risk them getting hurt to get a chunk of beeswax.

Nope, this was all up to Death himself. Seeing that he couldn't get close to the swarm, he opted instead to try and knock the nest over and get away with as few stings as possible. However, it seems his clover only had so much magic in it and he'd already used it all up. The first rock Death flung at the nest only damaged it and shook out more wasps, who were angry at being disturbed. The swarm was not stupid and they immediately attacked the large black beast who was close to their hive. Death ran as fast as his hooves could carry him as the angry insects gave chase. He ran a wide circle, coming back onto the hive from behind. With a great head butt, the hive fell from the tree and burst open.

A much larger wasp sprang from the fallen nest, the Wasp Queen. She stung Death in the nose and the buck yelped, nearly dropping the large chunk of wax he'd hurriedly dug out. The swarm had also caught up and became vicious from the scent of the Queen Wasp on Death.

Three frantic miles later, Death sat in a puddle of mud, picking stingers out with his teeth. The thick, wet earth was soothing where he'd already removed the wasp's thorns. Nearby sat his hard earned prize. He hoped the next couple of items would be as easily found, and much, much easier to collect.

You secure a mouthful of long grass stems ideal for weaving. Success!

Death sort of gawked at the grass stems not far from where he washed off. These had been on Never Idle's list too! Turning, he noticed the four leaf clover, while tattered, still was woven in his tail. Maybe it had recharged as he'd recovered from his little painful misadventure? Finding some big plant leaves, Death settled down to make a small pouch to carry his beeswax in so the stems wouldn't be coated in melting wax and honey.