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Survival Skills

A 8-post collection

Challenge #04227-K209: Weapons of Mass Infuriation

I would cast Repel Maiden upon thee, but it seems another wizard beat me to it.-- Anon Guest

Bards have... a gift of sorts. Their words and music are so well-practiced and well-honed that they have a magic of their own. Many have heard of the magic in a Bard's song - Inspiration. Few have heard of the opposite - Vicious Mockery - the ability to harm or kill with an insult.

It's quite the skill, to be able to read in an instant what a foe might be insecure about, and then deliver the perfect phraseology to cause lasting mental injury. If done correctly, a Bard can kill with a well-delivered word.

Too many people don't know this, and believe Bards are soft sorts who spent all their time indoors before venturing out into the wider world. They think Bards are merely there for support or to be the wing-person. They also think that Bards are thoroughgoing sex gremlins. None of these statements are true for all Bards.

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Challenge #04189-K171: To Fight Another Day

A special class was being held for those who are unwanted. Not just combat with hands and feet, but also exercising the tails, making them dexterous and nimble. For those with wings, using the wings like bludgeons in combat, using horns. Using weapons.. people never figured could actually be used as weapons. Expect the unexpected. -- Anon Guest

"I cannot teach you all the same," said the teacher. Battle-scarred and bent with age, they could nevertheless still hold their own in a

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Challenge #04130-K112: Work Cohabitation Arrangement

Dierd asks F'tibb if they would like to team up with him. He went to sargassos to gather wrecked ships to bring them back so their materials could be used. He also captured asteroids for sale for their valuable minerals. The low-grav was no problem with the special suit he wore, and there were areas of his ship at normal grav for him to exercise in so he could retain muscle tone.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-03541-i253-meet-cutie -- Anon Guest

If

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Challenge #03977-J325: Out of the Frying Pan

"Well, that was stupid."

"Hey it worked didn't it? We're alive aren't we?"

"Yeah.... but still...."

"If it worked, and we got out, then it wasn't stupid."

"I guess....." -- Anon Guest

"It also depends how one defines 'out'," said Tordd as ze looked out the windows to their landing ground. "True, we have survived the crash, but we are also trapped in a lifepod on something of a Deathworld."

"Okay," said Human Raf, already rooting about in the compartments for whatever

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Challenge #03084-H176: Hello Again, Little Friend

They had crashed on a planet where the atmosphere was toxic. The pods were safe and able to be moved together to create a larger shelter, and with only four of them, the shelter was big enough for at least a month, though rescue stated they'd be there in about two weeks given the distance and lack of short cuts in that area. Their patient's infection showed by day two. The human frowned, seeing it, then began to cut apart citrus peels

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Challenge #02019-E195: Lost and Found in Space

Wait, what happens to the poor guy in space in “Show Me the Way...”???

Does he find his way home or does he make space into his new home? I’m so curious now. -- Anon Guest

[AN: The prompt throws back to this story for those who don't want to go on an archive crawl]

Personal journal: Stardate... I don't even know by now. Everyone has a different way of counting and the standard year is something I can't even figure

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Challenge #01695-D234: Unlikely Survival Tactics

[Person #1]: Stop asking hard questions.

[Person #2]: Buddy, if I could stop thinking 'em, I'd stop asking 'em. -- RecklessPrudence

It's very clear that humans are gather-hunters whenever an isolating emergency occurs. Their first instinct is to gather everything they can and use that as a basis for what they do next. Often, this can be displacement activity in situations where the best course of action is to wait for the ERT to come to the rescue.

But there are other

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Challenge #01486-D025: Worth a Life

“unfortunately it hurts all 3 of my feelings” - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

Oh crap. She'd tripped over a Faerie nest.

Of all the authors who featured the Fair Folk in their modern writings, A. A. Milne said it best: Their bodies were so tiny that they could only process one feeling at a time. What hardly anyone remembered about Faeries is this: immortality can drive cogniscent beings insane. Milne's traditional cause of faerie death is not what these hyperactive creatures needed.

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