Build the Best Nest (a game)

[Lailyn]

Alf & Duf - Whether your song enchanted Goldie or the shifting of the winds did it, she returns and lays 3 eggs in her nest! The pair of you may want to consider a future career in avian breeding at the rate you’re going. (3 eggs x 2 pts ea = +6)

Lusola - Jingle jingle. No, its not Chris Kringle, its the Thrush carrying a little bell in her beak. She won’t set it down so she can’t tweet at you but she gives you an affectionate little boop with it and settles in the nest to lay 2 eggs. (2 eggs 2 x 2 pts ea = +4)

Goose - Miss Goose is watching. She sees all, this goose...she watches you waddle off to find a perfect mud pit and run into a family of beaver hogging it for their dam-building enterprise. Better not return to Miss Goose til you find something worthy… (+0... sad goose)

PROMPT FOR ALL: As night falls, how do you prepare for another day of nest-building? Do you rest or dare to venture out into the nocturnal environment? In the morning, you feel extra vigor and make more ground in your efforts...
Tweet tweet announcement: in the spirit of moving this along a bit, please pick 2 squares on your next turn, and all following turns!

Nestwatch aka scoreboard (feel free to check my math):
@Sorceress - 10
@Lady of Shadow- 0
@Afird Splitax - 18
@Silthy Bagginses - 7
@Moriel - 0
@Menolly - 1 (but no nesting material)
@Pele Alarion - 7

Squares available to search (pick 2):
B6, B7
C1, C5, C6, C7, C8
D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7
E1, E2, E3, E4, E7
F1, F3, F4, F6
G1, G4, G5, G7

[Galadrihell]

The Goose feels the bulbous, penetrating eyes of his erstwhile potential paramour fix on him as he waddles off. Cheekily, he shakes his tail feathers, but there is nothing but cold judgment emanating from Madam Goose. Slightly irritably, he shleps out further into the marsh and is just about to rootle around in the mud squelching beneath his webbed feet when he hears a menacing chitter.

The Goose hisses and spreads his wings. But there's another.

It's a face. A dimpled, furry, whiskery face. No. It's three - four - five - Goose can't count that high - it's many faces. They all have teeth. Big, square teeth. One of them appears to be pounding a wooden club into its off paw.

Clinging to what shreds of dignity he has, Goose backs off and looks elsewhere...

G5 and E7 please

[Afird Splitax]

The dwarves were quite excited when Goldie came back. She and her mate performed a spectacular Courtship Ritual. Shortly after, Goldie settled into the nest by herself to await the birth of her young. A week or so later, she laid her eggs. They were not quite sure how many eggs; Goldie and her mate never left the nest unattended, but they knew that there would be more eagles than ever about, and a new nest, or two, would be just the key to keeping them around the mountain.
High on the mountain's Westside, if one were to look down, they would see the Stair Falls tumbling white and misty. And if one were to look up from the steep steps beside the falls, they may have spotted a small yellow light dancing in the dusk. Alf and Duf sat around their small fire and planned for the next nest.

B6, B7, please

Edited spelling and grammar.

[Pele Alarion]

Feathers the Pigeon

Seeing that the Thrush was very much interested in the little trinket she had brought, Feathers nudged it towards the other bird gently, and then set off to gather the grass that the Thrush had so nicely pointed out to her.

However, night was approaching, and it slowly became dark; being a very sensible pigeon, Feathers settled into the nest - thinking that it would have been best to make it softer and more comfortable - to await a new day. With a yawn, she tucked her head under the wing and fell asleep almost immediately. Perhaps the next day would be just as busy and rich in various materials.

E1, D4, please

[Lailyn]

Goose - Finally! You find pine needles and sticks! Let’s see if your nest-building is up to scratch for Madam Goose or else, GULP, you might end up losing some feathers. Do you do anything special to win her over? (+2 you may choose to lay eggs!)

Alf & Duf - What an idyllic spot you’ve chosen for the night. In the morning, you find more perfect makings for a net-- moss and grass! Your eyrie is really taking off (haha) and is starting to attract attention. Who else do you see coming to investigate? (+2 you may choose to lay eggs!)

Feathers - The early bird gets the worm, they say, or in this case, the early pigeon gets the sticks and a pinecone. Well, one of those things is useful anyway. A jealous squirrel eyes the pinecone. What coo-uld you do with it anyway? (+1 alas! you need more items for your nest!)

TWEET PEEP - ANNOUNCEMENT THIS ROUND ONLY:
In addition to your normal turn (laying eggs or searching spaces), you may also attempt to steal eggs from another player. Just make it clear in your post who you're stealing from. I will roll a die (or maybe flip a coin since I don’t think dice have 2 sides??) to see if you succeed and another dice roll will determine # of eggs stolen.

Just to make it even more ridiculous, new players may jump in and steal eggs.

Nestwatch aka scoreboard (feel free to check my math):
@cHa0s BrO - 10
@Lady of Shadow - 0
@Afird Splitax - 20
@cHaOs bRiDe - 9
@Moriel - 0
@Menolly - 1 (but no nesting material)
@Pele Alarion - 8

Squares available to search (pick 2!):
C1, C5, C6, C7, C8
D2, D3, D5, D6, D7
E2, E3, E4
F1, F3, F4, F6
G1, G4, G7

[Afird Splitax]

Alf woke up with a kink in his neck. He had fallen asleep with his head resting on a crop of the rock wall. Duf lay snoring beside him. Stretching quietly, he got up without disturbing his friend and made his way down the Stair . They needed more ale and food for one, and Alf thought maybe they should build a new nest. It would be wonderful to have the birds returning their roost, but it would make life easier for the birds if they were more nests when they returned: for their offsprings, of course. They could have a regular aerie haven on the mountainside.
Another thought occurred to the young dwarf as he made his way down the Stair. What if someone or something had it in their minds to attempt to steal the eggs from the nests. That would be a blow to him and Duf after all their hard work. He would have to rectify that.
It was almost dusk when Alf climbed back up the Stair to join Duf. With him, he had two friends that agreed to join the nest build adventure. They helped to carry the supplies and some new nesting material. However, their primary jobs would be to guard the entranceways where the nests with the eggs lay. There would be no stealing of eggs if Alf had anything to say about it. But first, it was time for food and ale and song. Duf was happy to see Alf and their two friends, Bili and Marv. They had a good meal and some singing, then went to sleep anxious for tomorrow's nest building to begin.

Laying Eggs, please

Unbeknownst to the dwarves that snored into their beards, Marv had laid awake waiting for the others to fall asleep. Once their snoring sounding like a regular chainsaw event, he snuck off in search of a bird's nest ( not the eagles, of course) filled with eggs. He thought Alf and Duf would be pleased if there were suddenly more eggs in the eagle's nests than they had thought. And, it would be quite the joke when the eggs hatched, and the two dwarves had cardinals in their aerie haven.

Stealing 2 eggs from @cHa0s BrO

[Pele Alarion]

Feathers the Pigeon

The pigeon was intent in making her day a success, so she attempted to do something useful with the sticks, but soon it became apparent that she needed more material. The pinecone... the pigeon pecked at the thing unsure of how she could make use of it in the nest. Eventually she left it in favour of searching for something else that could be used, more sticks, grass, or perhaps a bit of mud.

While Feathers flew this way and that, she couldn't help but notice that other birds had more eggs than her. A mischievous idea entered her mind, and she thought that perhaps she could snatch an egg from some nest, even if the bird that would hatch would not be a pigeon.

C5 and D3, please
And trying to steal eggs from @Afird Splitax

[Galadrihell]

Goose anxiously scuffled his materials together into the neatest nest shape he could fashion, treading the edges down smooth with his large webbed feet. He pattered off and showed his work to Miss Goose and sidled up to her (although just out of pecking range).

“Honk,” he suggested, seductively.
“Honk,” she replied, demurely.

some time later, goose chooses to lay eggs & also steal eggs from Afird Splitax

[Lailyn]

Alf and Duf - Your Eagles lay 3 more eggs (3 eggs x 2 points = +6) but one is stolen by a pigeon of all creatures! (-2) You seem to learn your lesson and manage to head off the Goose who tries the same trick. Marv’s hands covered with divots and scratches tell the story of his attempt to steal eggs: it did not go well. Ouch!

Feathers - It’s a good thing you find more mud (+1) because your nest is about to need another level-- your mischief paid off and you come away with a single eagle egg almost as big as you are! (1 egg x 2 points = +2) And what is this juicy wriggly little critter you spy? Hmm looks like a slug. Wonder what it tastes like...
You may build another nest and lay eggs on your next turn.

Goose - Your honking must have given you away and an Eagle snaps at your tail feathers! No stolen eggs for you! On the bright side...Oh la la! Your seductive honking has done the trick. Miss Goose lays 2 eggs! (2 eggs x 2 points = +4) Time to teach your goslings how to Horrible Goose. Might as well start them out young!

Crickle, crackle...
Teep peep peep!
Out pops a wee head! Your eggs have hatched!!! Now the real work begins.

As we’ve been going for a while, this will be the last round. Thank you all for playing! Your birds and dwarves have all been delightful! Take a look around for food (welcome to your new full-time job) and material to upkeep your nest(s) and keep your babies fed and cozy.

Nestwatch aka scoreboard:
@Pharmakís - 10
@Lady of Shadow - 0
@Afird Splitax - 24
@cHaOs bRiDe - 13
@Moriel - 0
@Menolly - 1 (but no nesting material)
@Pele Alarion - 11

Squares remaining - you may choose 2:
C1, C6, C7, C8
D2, D5, D6, D7
E2, E3, E4
F1, F3, F4, F6
G1, G4, G7

[Galadrihell]

Goose fluffed his feathers in complete contentment. Even that Eagle yoinking out a couple of his feathers due to cheekiness hadn’t spoiled his mood. His bulging yellow eyes still had a spark of happiness in them - if you looked very closely, you might be able to detect a couple of tiny floating hearts in the pupil…
… but by then you’ve approached Goose too closely and he is pecking you in the throat and honking, so best not.

Speaking of pecking and honking, a frantic cheeping came from beneath Mrs Goose. She shifted in her nest - a twig came loose. She fixed her eyes upon Goose and honked pointedly. He sighed and waddled off - endless duty.,,

D2 and G7 please

[Afird Splitax]

The air near the nests was filled with high-pitched begging calls. It was so loud that, when Alf returned from a trip down the Stair to replenish their stock (Bili and Marv having left too with some injury to Marv's hands that he chose not to explain but that had to be looked after), he could hear it halfway up to his destination. The only explanation they could get from their friend had something to do with the strange pigeon that had swooped down and stole one of the eagle's eggs. It was a plucky bird (and a not so plucky dwarf) to have attempted such a feat with the mamma's and pappa's quite busy with all their young hatchlings. They flew through the air, back and forth, with food for the young. The dwarves felt they were in a kind of Aves Heaven - the clouds close to them on the mountainside. It had all been worthwhile to see the great birds and to hearing the young calling.

F1 and F6, please

[Pele Alarion]

Feathers the Pigeon

She had been uncharacteristically naughty by stealing someone else's egg... and judging by the size of the egg the hatched chick might as well eat her. Regardless, Feathers deposited the egg in the nest, did some more building, and looking for food. So she returned to the nest after a while, feet dirtied with mud and a slug in her beak.

Lay eggs, please