This Wastelander has been travelling outside for a long while, learning new things and resting her bones. I’m back now, with eyes and mind improved from the journey.
I see that trade still goes on in our parts, but the most active trade is now food. Most shelves are empty of parts and scraps. Perhaps a wise move for the trading business since everyone’s health is a bit more precarious lately.
I stopped in a few stores, looking for what was the same or what was new. Destini Miles has made her store a little smaller, Psycho Baroque has opened up a Delicatessen beside AFK-47 (both of these near the Great Fissure). Los Traperos maintain their store in Malady Bog.
Food prices appear consistent and quite stable from shop to shop with Bacon and Mold standing at 10, Frut and Bloodmoss at 75 and the rarer Dinki-Di and Mystery Meat at 150.
The other big change I see is that sharp-edged weapons have become quite expensive, a Flayer as much as 1400 (at Destini’s). A shrewd trader might do better than that, but if you are in need of a weapon, I suppose the price is worth it!
My guess is that people are trading more for supplies in person, one-on-one. That’s the old way, and some would say the best way.
Meanwhile (and I know it’s quite late), I am finally awarding a prize of Dinki-Di for my last contest to Ccindy Pfeffer and a runner-up prize of Canned Frut to Aposipesis Fullstop for their wise and witty answers to this question:
“Is Ghoul flesh edible, and is it worth something in trading?”
Ccindy Pfeffer, the mutant witch, replied: “Well let’s answer it this way: Everything is edible at least once. Speaking of ghoul flesh, it can be eaten but should be cooked a long time. Best if cooked twice, change the water between. Or, grilled on the fire until it’s almost charred, every bit of it lost of moisture. Still, ghouls are ground feeders. You can taste it, no matter what you do with the meat. Also, remember the wise words of Trumps, elder and shaman of the sandwalker tribe: ‘All you eat will be added to your being.’ So maybe it’s smarter to be eating a greedy smoothskin than eating a moldy ghoul.”
Meanwhile, Aposipesis Fullstop’s answer was this:
“It’s hard t’ prepare the ghoul meat well, an’ it ain’t hardly worth yer trouble. Ye gotta skin ’em to get that layer o’ gunk off, and many ghouls just ain’t meaty enough fer there to be a lot left under the skin. However, that skin ain’t worthless fer food, after all!
First ye go out to the swamps an’ look fer this li’l red weed in the water. It ain’t Bloodmoss; it lives in the water itself, looks more like a normal plant. Gather up a bunch, take it back, an’ boil it up in clean fresh water. The red weed itself ain’t tasty. (If ye got sulfuric acid, but not enough fer actually helpin’ to prepare the flesh, ye can throw some in the water to help.)
Once it’s all boil’t down, strain out the weed, then boil that water again. Ye’ll wanna reduce it a lot. An’ you’ll notice that the water gets a little thick an’ goopy.
Pour it out inna big flat pan o’ some kind, one ye got a good lid for. Let it set in th’ shade a while, in the coolest place ye can put it, and it’ll set up into this weird wobbily sorta-solid.
Take yer ghoul skin an’ swipe it over the top o’ the wobbly goop.
Wrap yer flat pan real damn tight with some plastic. Set it somewhere that ain’t too hot, ain’t too cold. Wait a few days, then open ‘er back up. (Hold yer nose, as ye do.)
If yer REAL DAMN LUCKY, some o’ the rot an’ mold on their skin mighta been Yellow Mold, an’ ye may have a new li’l patch o’ it on yer gel. Probably among other bits o’ mold that will poison ye, o’course, so ye gotta be careful o’ what you pick out.
Cultivate it real careful-like, an’ ye may be able to make a new pan o’ gel an’ seed it with nothin’ but yer new fresh Yellow Mold. But it takes a LOT o’luck, and e’en a little hole can let poisonous shite in.
And yeah, ere ye ask, I tried doin’ this with the Yellow Mold ye find out an’ about or get from the Food Trader, but it seems all dry an’ dead an’ don’t seem to take root. Sucks.”
Thats all for this report.. another one next full moon with an new question and prizes.