Tømmerhugger
"You want pity!?" * THWACK * "You want mercy!?" * THWACK * "Get out there and fell some damn trees. You're slacking!" * THWACK * The wooden quarterstaff of a Dwarf overseer strikes the back young Halfling woman with powerful blows between angry cries. She does not cry. She does not scream. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Stay conscious. Stay up. Don't puke. Survive. "You miss quota again this week and you'll never rotate out of here. You'll never see your pathetic Halfling family again. You'll die here. We'll put you in the ground and the children of the trees you've harvested will seek out your corpse and drain it until you're dust. And I'll water encourage them by pissing on your grave and laughing everyday, you worthless f*cking maggot!" * THWACK * One last blow catches Hunøks by surprise as it takes her in the temple. Vision blurred then red with blood, amazingly her composure remains. Hidden by the waterfall of blood and immediate swelling, the ruby red fire of rage burns brightly in her irises. Taking her attacker's silence as permission to move, Hunøks grabs her axe and stands. Wooziness threatens her from the effort of quick movement clashing with the pain pulsing through her shoulders and head. Still, Hunøks pounds out a quick rhythm on the bloodstained clay with the axe's heavy steel head. The ground trembles beneath her feet before splitting open to birth a chitinous insectoid 5 ft tall and 10 ft long. With a well rehearsed grace, Hunøks straddles herself along the monster's neck as it lifts her from the ground. They head north along the west bank of the Abhainn Adhmaid into Báisaisling Foraois. Not stopping at the current cut line, Hunøks guides her Lumberheg mount deeper into the forest looking for better prey.
Evolution of the Tømmerhugger
Wood has always been a heavily used commodity in Seclora due to its relative abundance. However, as civilization grew more communal and then more urban, specific trades emerged. One of the primary roles in the forestry industry is the humble Tømmerhugger. Historically found in cabins near a roadway or river, these independent workers slowly merged into small companies competing for contracts to harvest and deliver ever-growing quanities of wood to a ravenous industry. As demand grew, so did prices until the Barnema Trade Company stepped in. In the name of efficiency, Tømmerhugger went from a profession to a punishment of forced labour. Meticulously tracked and calculated quotas from the Gnome-dominated administration are handed to the Dwarf-led overseers that beat their largely Halfling workforce into meeting. Every month the numbers go up as bodies break from the strain. Still unable to keep up with demand, the Company setup a taskforce to devise a solution. Eventually the capturing and training of Lumberheg became the secondary workhorse the petite labourers couldn't provide on their own.
Role
Every Tømmerhugger is given the clothes on their back, the axe at their side, an individualized tree marker (branded on their shoulder no less), a quota, and a Lumberheg (provided they aren't killed in the pairing process). Their days are spent felling trees and hauling them to the nearest checkpoint. Each Tømmerhugger adds their mark to the severed end(s) of each log they a part of processing, hoping that they reach their quota each month. Those that do continue to survive and may even rotate out of camp to remind them of who or what they could lose should they try to flee.Table of Contents
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