Marcus, curious, asked Gitzit, “Did your old boss also escape from Blackfire Pass?”
Gitzit shook his head.
“My current boss is Redclaw, strongest Orc in tribe, taller and bigger than you.
Old boss Azguz died at Blackfire Pass, smashed by humie knights.
Redclaw took over.”
Marcusdidn’t dwell on that and asked again, “How many Orcs and Goblins you have now?”
Gitzit stammered, “23 Orcs…
and…
many Gobbos…
maybe…
many?”
It was a predicament.
For a Greenskin tribe, a Goblin might not even know his own boss’s name properly, let alone count.
Orcs don’t do census.
Biggest is boss, rest is “many.”
Marcuslearned from further babbling that since Beastmen burned the tribe’s largest mushroom field, the Wildwood tribe hadn’t seen any new Orcs or Goblins born for a long time.
Mushroom fields take months to recover after being burned.
Then, the Orcs who fled from Blackfire Pass fought with the Orcs who stayed behind for leadership.
Another brawl.
More Orcs and Goblins killed.
Of course, Redclaw, who returned from Blackfire Pass with a scar from a Reiksguard sword, ultimately won.
Due to this internal conflict, heavy losses again.
The shrewd Redclaw then sent Gitzit out to find suitable territory for a comeback.
After hearing all this, Marcusunderstood.
They weren’t as strong as he imagined.
With many Goblins and Orcs killed and fungus field burned, the tribe was bound to decline.
Why?
Have you ever seen an Orc take care of a mushroom field?
Orcs only know how to fight on it and bleed on it.
Goblins are lazy.
Without Snotlings constantly tending it, a field dies.
Marcusthought: “I wish system would give me mission now.”
Brother Gork and Mork truly loved Marcus; they gave him what he wanted.
> **DING!
QUEST: RECLAIM THE WILDWOOD TRIBE**
> Description: Once glorious tribe now on verge of decline.
I think you should take advantage, krump these gits, make them your underlings.
> Reward 1: 1000 WAAAGH!
Energy
> Reward 2: Your Level 2 Mushroom Field will produce 2 extra Wildwood Goblins daily.
Upgrading field may produce more.
> **[Wildwood Goblins]:** Natural archers and scouts.
In jungle, agile as lynxes.
Green-brown skin, better camouflage.
Looking at generous rewards, Marcuswanted to immediately go tie up those Wild Orcs and beat them into his boyz.
But considering current strength, he dismissed idea.
His tribe still too weak – 1 Orc vs 23 Orcs, if war breaks out, countless Goblins would die.
He needed to wait, grow, maybe challenge Redclaw one-on-one.
Orc law allows boss challenge.
Putting that aside, Marcuspicked up the simple bow belonging to Gitzit.
The bow itself was inferior to the cedar bows he taught Goblins to make at lumber camp, but the bowstring caught his attention.
Ironhead tribe used animal sinew for bowstrings.
That meant only by hunting large animals could they get usable bowstrings, greatly limiting bow-making speed.
Currently, there were still hundreds of bows at logging camp unstrung.
However, Gitzit’s bowstring wasn’t sinew.
It was incredibly strong, slightly greenish, woven from plant fibers.
At first Marcusthought it was hemp – dicotyledonous plant, Rosaceae subclass, jute, flax, hemp, many types.
Very resilient, high yield, like chives, harvestable several times a year.
If he could find hemp, tribe could be free from sinew dependence, quickly arm more Goblin archers, even develop textile industry – hemp clothing, trousers, cloth armor instead of leather.
He had gone out searching for hemp, but after a whole day found none, only weeds that broke easily.
Thinking of hemp potential, Marcus’s eyes gleamed with greed.
But he patiently asked what bowstring was made of, after all Warhammer world is different.
Gitzit casually replied, “Made from mushrooms.”
Marcuswas stunned.
Made from mushrooms?
Mushrooms produce coarse fibers?
He felt this guy was lying and wanted to give him a whack.
Seeing Marcus’s displeasure, Gitzit quickly explained, pointing at the big mushroom field behind:
“You can make it using giant mushrooms that Orcs crawl out of!
I’m not lying!
Just cut down these big white stalks before they rot and dry them!”
Then Gitzit explained how to make bowstring, gesturing.
This truly stunned Marcus.
He originally wanted to ask where to find hemp to transplant back.
Little did he know, he was sitting on a goldmine.
Just dry the big mushroom stalks, then crush them.
Inside, you’ll find coarse fibrous mycelium that looks like thin white threads, like lotus root fibers.
Then weave these mycelium fibers into thin rope for bows.
What else can be said?
Greenskins truly are capable of anything.
Perhaps mycelium inside Orkoid mushrooms is like natural hemp.
Marcushad seen in his past life – mycelium leather is real, fungus can produce leather-like material.
In Warhammer, Ork fungus is even more versatile.
Such simple and stable method for obtaining fiber strengthened Marcus’s determination to build a weaving frame to use fungus cloth instead of animal hides.
Once children all dressed in thick fungus-linen clothes and equipped with iron tools, they could try exploration missions.
The Goblins, now hunting daily, had explored area within five kilometers of tribe.
Adding Gitzit’s info, and recalling Warhammer Fantasy world map, Marcusroughly determined his location.
He was at the very southern tip of the **Worlds Edge Mountains**, where the **Dark Lands** meet the **Badlands**, near the **Howling Wastes**.
This area undeniably dangerous, with two powerful Skaven clans: **Clan Rictus** from Crookback Mountain and **Clan Mors** expansion tunnels nearby.
War with rats who hide underground inevitable.
This made Marcuswant to invent equipment for tunnel fighting – short spears, lanterns, gas masks against Skaven poison wind.
He was also interested in Skaven’s **Warpstone** technology.
Considering Warpstone is green and glowing, and Greenskins are green, it seemed quite reasonable for them to use Warpstone.
Of course, Dwarfs would say Warpstone is pure evil Chaos corruption.
But Gork and Mork wouldn’t care.
If it goes boom, it’s good.
Marcuslooked at the pile of big white mushroom stalks left over from where Orcs had been born – usually they rot.
Now they were rope, cloth, bowstrings.
All-powerful mushroom indeed.
He ordered Gitzit: “You teach my Gobbos how to make mushroom rope.
You do good, you get extra meat.
You lie, I make you into mushroom fertilizer.”
Gitzit nodded so fast his leaf clothes rustled, and immediately started demonstrating, peeling fibers, twisting them into cord.
The Ironhead tribe was about to have its textile revolution, courtesy of fungus.
And soon, enough bowstrings to arm 300 archers.
Then, Wildwood.