There were two bes in waiting for the goblin envoys. The first be was that we had the ce to have the trade items approved by all parties. I probably wouldn't o for things like this, but building the goodwill back up is done in small steps like this. The sed be is that they help carry all the stuff back down the mountain with Zeb. Ultimately, Zeb will need help bringing all that rope back up the mountain though. We don't know yet if they'll accept everything as enough trade materials though.

  I sent the envoys and Zeb back with all the items we thought of, the scissors set, machete, ptes, and some basic cutlery. If it's enough, then Zeb should try to get some help t the rope to the depot about half the mountain tomorrow, and e get me, so we use some carts to haul the wood up.

  Well, Zeb came back pretty early, courtesy of the new path making the trip a lot faster, and he retty excited. He said we o get the two carts down to the depot as soon as possible. I was surprised by how enthused he was to go haul wood, and shortly after we set out.

  Whe to the depot I saw why he was in a rush to haul things. There were a bunch of goblins standing about at the depot. I reized most of them as either craftsgoblins from the vilge, oblins who helped with the path's stru. They all apparently wao see the cart system in a, and helped haul the rope so that they could withe maiden usage.

  It took short while to run rope all the to the winch, and tie it off to a cart, but o was attached, I was gd to see the rope hold up as the cart was allowed to roll slowly down the slope with the help of the winbsp; Then o was loaded up with wood, I slowly wihe cart all the the se of the path. Once I saw that it worked once, and we unloaded the cart at this level, I ihe oblins to each try it with some supervision.

  We only made it about half the distao the cave by the end of the day due to how many cartloads of wood we were hauling, but the goblins all seemed impressed when they left. A big be of having this is that it actually works just as well with two people as it did with all of us. They were all mostly there to just watd give it a try themselves. In the long run, this should alle amounts of materials to be moved up or down the mountain by retively few people.

  With the wood hauled, and the path done, I've decided to go explore the sed valley on the isnd. sidering its proximity to the valley that the goblin vilge is in, I fully expect the biosphere to be simir. I'll probably be gone for a week or so. Getting there through forest and jungle will take a little while, and while I'm there I want to dot ara points of ihat I find while within it.

  Given it's still the start of the month, I fully expect to return before the goblin envoys return up the mountain. I personally don't have any projects that seem sent that I o have Zeb work on them, so I'm leaving him with no instrus on what to work on, and I've told him he's free to work on whatever he wants while I'm gone. I'm taking a spear, my backpack, some lightstoablets for rec anything iing I find, and a few days worth of food. I'm thankful at times like this that my species seems to need signifitly less water than a human would, or else I'd water along as well.

  Two days in, and I've found my first point of i in the sed valley that is worth rec. This valley has a rger stream thaher valley does. I found it thanks to the sound of a waterfall that falls around one hundred feet before tinuing as a stream. Based on the fact that the isnd is voli in, I'm pretty sure that this sheer cliff, along with some of the ones iher valley, were probably caused by massive ndslides. It's probably the reason there is a whole valley here holy.

  Thankfully, this isnd seems to be volically dead, as the entire peak of the isnd is heavily eroded. In the years I've been here, I haven't noticed a single earthquake as well, so I'm guessing that the odds of a major ndslide are pretty slim. Mudslides oher hand, well, I've seen a few of those, and they're a real threat. Without eleic systems, trying to develop seismology to get a better uanding of the actual risk is practically impossible. So for now, I'll just enjoy the beautiful view of this waterfall, and the small clearing underh it. I think I'll follow the stream to the o, in case I find anything else iing along it.

  I didn't find anything particurly iing along the eh of the stream, despite it taking two days. It eventually flows into the o, and this valley doesn't have much of a bay. To the right, there are some cliffs, which I believe to be the cliffs that go around the left side of the bay at the end of the other valley. Unfortunately, despite the stream on this side having more water flow, there isn't a good clearing to build a vilge easily. Not that one couldn't be made, just that there would have to be a lot of terraf to build buildings.

  From what I tell, this valley is very simir to the other one, and although I haven't seen any of the giant lizards here, I did catch myself one of the ground birds that the gobli, and it made a pretty good meal. The trees and other small wildlife are all pretty much the same.

  Sihis valley is a bit lopsided, with the stream and deepest point actually being closer to the side o the other valley rather than the ter, I'm going to take a long route home, and head up the other side some before returning.

  Although it isn't an individual point of i, I did realize ohing that may be beneficial. For the st two days, I've been walking back along the far edge of the valley, and I've noticed the slope is here is actually quite a bit mehan in a lot of other areas. While that initially may not be useful, if it tinues for much longer, I'll be at an altitude where lion root grows. If that is the case, it might be possible to easily gre amounts of it over here, even more so than the area intermediate between the cave and the goblin vilge.

  Over here, I think the slope is gentle enough that you wouldn't eveo terraform in pces, so just about anyone could do it. All this is to say, if Zaka were to keep expanding the goblin vilge, or wao make a sed vilge, there are pces that could work, especially if there is ground water that could be tapped into with a well.

  The slope did tio be geo the altitude where lion root started to grow, and I ended up harvesting quite a bit and putting it in my backpack for the remaining day of travel back to the cave. When I returo the cave, I found Zeb harvesting some spuds, and started to give him a rundown on what I'd seen, although none of it articurly important all things sidered. Holy, once I've finished expl the isnd, I might sider making a map, and putting it in my house.

  After telling Zeb about the things I'd seen, I asked him, "What've you been up to, other than tending the spuds?"

  Zeb replied, "Oh, well, I actually went down to the depot you made and started cutting down some more trees in the area."

  I raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "Any particur reason for that?"

  Zeb responded, "Well, it feels like I'm not able to do enough, or at least as much as I'd like to given my levels and the fact I'm a goblin, so I wao level up."

  I sat and thought about this for a little bit. It'd holy be a big help if he was evolved again, but I also don't want to ence clear cutting, I've already made that point in the vilge. After thinking I spoke up, "Alright, I'm fih it on two ditions. First, I o go down, and teach you a bit about forest ma, so that you don't end up causing serious damage. The sed dition is that you don't waste wood. If the storehouse up here needs expao store more of it, then you o do that. In addition, charcoal sts a lot lohan wood, so I'd ence you to turn most of it into that. If you need my help with any of it, let me know."

  Despite the ditions, Zeb seems pretty excited. I suspect seeing a few of the goblins in the vilge evolve after the siege has made him antsy to do so himself. Well, sidering everything, havira charcoal 't hurt, probably.