GoodDoug: "In the Valley of the what...?!"

[JuiceeTarget]

GoodDoug: The valley of the what...?!

 

The Ranger Guild Leader looked down again at the application. In front of him stood a Half-Ogre, a large brutish creature that wasn't really dressed for an interview. But the Guild Leader had seen worse.

 

"I asked if you had heard of the Valley of the Dinosaurs"

 

The Half-Ogre responded carefully, "I haven't heard of this valley, but know quite a bit about dinosaurs."

 

"Oh really, what do you know about Tyrannosaurus rex?" the guild leader asked.

 

The Half-Ogre put his hands behind his back and looked up as if he were in front of class answering the teacher, "Tyrannosaurs are the largest carnivorous dinosaurs. They typically weigh 4 and a half tons, stand about 12 feet tall at the hips and are typically 40 feet in length at maturity. At full sprint, they can run faster than a human, but not for long periods. They have a highly developed sense of smell and binocular vision and use that to find prey, carrion and mates. They tend to prey on Ornithopods and some Ceratops but will also hunt and prey upon cattle and sheep if given the chance."

 

"Good, so you will know exactly what to do for your first assignment."

 

GoodDoug, the Half-Ogre brightened perceptibly at this mention that he would get an assignment. An assignment meant he had made it into the Rangers. The Ranger Guild Leader went on, "You've done well with the Adventurers guild, you've made a name for yourself killing kobolds with them... but this assignment will be much more difficult than that."

 

The Guild Leader paused to let that sink in, "But if we didn't think you could handle it, we wouldn't give it to you. You have an advantage of size and strength that we need on this assignment. From your work as a runner with Abel Township, we know you can run a bit." The Guild Leader silently added that the Half-Ogre's smell would be an advantage as well.

 

The Guild Leader then proceeded to pull out a map of the area GoodDoug would be expected to work. "Six T. rexes have moved into this valley over here. We assume they've already eaten the farmers in the valley, and expect other farmers to move in soon. We need to take care that the new farmers aren't scared away by the thought of dinosaurs, so we'll need to make sure they don't find out what is happening." GoodDoug raised his eyebrows at the Guild Leader who cut off his unasked question with, "Rangers aren't out here for glory. Lots of what we do isn't sung about in the ballads or told in tales at campfires. We do what needs to be done." GoodDoug nodded his understanding.

 

The Guild Leader continued, "You will run down these dinosaurs, kill them and then dispose of their carcasses. While in the valley, it is important that you eat to maintain your conditioning as well as to more easily blend in with the Tyrannosaurs. Therefore, while in the valley you will strive to eat mostly meat, and lots of it."

 

GoodDoug smiled, that would be easier given all the Tyrannosaur meat that would soon be available to him.

 

The Guild Leader shuddered as he guessed what the Half-Ogre was thinking. "One more thing, you are now representing the Rangers. We are here to help others. Please consider that others will be judging the Rangers (and other Half-Ogres) by your words and actions."

 

"You want me to be nice?"

 

"We want you to be helpful."

 

GoodDoug nodded, he understood what they were asking. He was ready for this task.

 

Run down the mighty Tyrannosaur:

Run 54 miles total by end of challenge (9 miles per week)

side goal: run 6 miles in one run

Dex +3 and Sta +1 (extra Sta +1 of I make the side goal)

 

Move the carcasses:

Lift weights for a total of at least 4.5 tons per week. That's 27 tons total. Any combination of exercises is allowed as long as the total weight moved is in range.

side goal: 100 pushups in one day, to taunt the T. rex. "See me doing pushups, don't you wish you could do them? Ha ha!"

Str +2 and Sta+1 (extra Str +1 if I do the side quest)

 

Eat like a Tyrannosaur:

Eat at least 100g protein per day as tracked by LoseIt! Tracked by day, no making up tomorrow for what I didn't do today.

Str +1 Sta +1 Con +2

 

Life goal:

Be supportive and helpful. Spend half an hour three times a week on NF challenge forums offering help and advice.

Wis +1 Cha +1

[hearthsinger]

HA! I love that you turned this into a story and created your goals on theme. Awesome.

[missrackl]

Move the carcasses:

Lift weights for a total of at least 4.5 tons per week. That's 27 tons total. Any combination of exercises is allowed as long as the total weight moved is in range.

side goal: 100 pushups in one day, to taunt the T. rex. "See me doing pushups, don't you wish you could do them? Ha ha!"

Str +2 and Sta+1 (extra Str +1 if I do the side quest)

 This is the best goal EVAR.   I have never, ever thought to think about adding up the weights lifted into one huge total. 

 

And mocking T-rexes?  Awesome. 

 

[Aeryn]

I love the idea of taunting T-Rexes by doing push-ups! And your story is great - I'm looking forward to seeing you defeat those dinos!

[erawka]

What a great narrative! Definitely a good way to put the tonnage into context. What sort of lifting program are you doing?

[alienjenn]

I love it... My youngest is a dinophile... He knows hundreds of thousands of interesting bits about them... I'm looking forward to you crushing some dinos...,

Now I'm considering adding it up to see how much *I* move in a week... (darn inspirational people making me think if more work... )

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

[Eirlys]

Wow, you are one intelligent half-ogre!!

 

Great to see you in the Rangers, GoodDoug!!  

 

And I like your push-up goal.  Good luck in the next stage of your epic quest!!

[Avalonna]

I love your narrative and the way you have fit your goals into a story! A moral question: if you are striving to be helpful, isn't it your moral obligation to warn the new farmers about the risk from the Tyrannosaurs? What if you can't kill all the Tyrannosaurs  before they start killing the farmers?

[Eirlys]

And how could I forget to mention that I really dig your opening narrative for the challenge? Real-life roleplay ftw!

(Still not sure what an ornithopod is tho! )

On another note, I've often found your 'help others' posts motivational & insightful (both on my threads and other peoples') so it's cool to see that as one of your goals. Good Doug spreading good in the world. Makes alotta sense

[MMyers]

I love the story! Best of luck to you!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Great story, I love it!  Good luck on your challenge this time around, may T-rex's quake in fear at the sound of your name (and the thought of pushups)

[basscrack]

Awesome story, and I agree that your "help others" goal is great. That's something I try to do but haven't actually thought to turn into a measurable goal. Good one.

 

Good luck with those T-Rexes!

[JuiceeTarget]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I've started the challenge with a bang. Monday is my deadlift day and so it is my biggest lifting day. I went above and beyond today and moved 9,290 pounds today. That's just over 4.5 tons. So I killed it on my first day. I tend to lift one or two days a week, so I look to be right on track.

 

For deadlifts, I slightly increased total volume, lifting 5 reps of 225 punds for two sets and 5 reps of 205 pounds for 1 and a half sets. Normally, I do one set at 225 and 2 at 205, but today I really broke through and lifted quite a bit more. I also did barbell lunges (20 reps with 45 pounds), incline bench press (4 sets of 5 at 90 pounds) and seated rows (3 sets of 10 at 90 pounds). I will be interested to see when and where I get sore with those deadlifts.

 

Because it is deadlift day I am eating even more protein today, and have just made 100g of protein by lunch through a combination of protein shakes, eggs and yummy fish. Tomorrow, is running day. Depending on how I feel, I may try for some extra distance. Wish me luck!

[JessOfAllTrades]

Wandering over from the Adventures to wish you luck! Love the goals and the narrative. And way to start with an awesome day!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Excellent first day, keep up the good work.

[Wirilome]

 This is the best goal EVAR.   I have never, ever thought to think about adding up the weights lifted into one huge total. 

 

And mocking T-rexes?  Awesome. 

 

 

Great Photo!

[Wirilome]

I really like your story line!

[Eirlys]

4.5 tonnes??!!

And great work with breaking through on the deadlifts.

You've certainly joined the Rangers with a bang! if I was a t-rex, I'd be nervous...

[JuiceeTarget]

Mini-update:

Ran 5K (3.18 miles in 30:30 to be exact) yesterday. Was sore from lifting so didn't push it. Took it slow to not overdo it. Don't want to burn out in the first week of the challenge.

On Monday, I finished with 132g of protein and yesterday I had 135g protein. Today is a rest day, so I am guessing I'll hit closer to 100g.

 

Tomorrow is another run day, I'm hoping to go slow and far, but we'll see how I feel.

[Aeryn]

Nice 5k! I love that that's slow for you. And good job getting the protein, too. Enjoy the rest day!

[erawka]

I'm with Aeryn. That's a great time! stud.

[alienjenn]

[basscrack]

That actually made me laugh out loud. Which the internet rarely does. I surprised myself a little. Kudos, kudos.

[alienjenn]

That actually made me laugh out loud. Which the internet rarely does. I surprised myself a little. Kudos, kudos.

 

 

one of my fb friends sent it to me... because my son is a dino freak... and I was like.... OOOOOOOHHHHHH I know someone doing a trex challenge!!!

[Wirilome]

one of my fb friends sent it to me... because my son is a dino freak... and I was like.... OOOOOOOHHHHHH I know someone doing a trex challenge!!!

 

That was a great picture...