Winter time: where to get rope for a stone axe?

[Mata Hari]

Hello there,
I haven't played in a while, but now I have delved back into the game starting a new runaway slave in winter in version 3.62. To my horror I found I could not craft a stone axe because I lacked rope and cord was no more accepted. I also could not craft a leather rope from my fur clothing. A withe did not work either. As it is winter, I can't get by hands on birch-bark strips. Is trading my only option to get an axe before spring?

[PALU]

The way I do it is to trap lots of birds and tan their leather (it also has the positive side effect of training Hide Working up to reasonable levels, although I tend to have to go light on the tanning early on to actually get enough to eat, as bird skin tanning takes a lot of time, and the meat you get from them is often not enough food for that period).

Obviously, killing a tormentor or two can provide you with a real axe or leather equipment (or a really short career...).

And congratulations on your slave escape: they're brutally hard to pull off.

[Mata Hari]

That is some great advice, I will try that. A little food diversity is surely welcome among all those cloudberries. Thanks for sharing.

On the escape: It was so lucky. Took four arrows and fell, but somehow no one came after me and I got away.

[PALU]

Berries is a sure way to slowly starve, unfortunately. I generally start by setting up a bunch of light lever traps, as those can be constructed easily and can provide a reasonable number of birds. Some people manage to start their characters by fishing, but my attempts have always been slow starvation.

4 separate wounds is still better than one giant one, as they heal in parallel, but it makes everything a lot harder while they heal.

[Tom H]

IF you've found a village, one leather rope will cost you about 4 javelins, which are made from the slender trunks one finds lying around in the forests. I've actually had a character who was so skill-deprived that he couldn't make a javelin. If that is the case for you, I'd suggest a new start!

[Mata Hari]

Okay, update time: with ten light lever traps in two separate locations I got enough birds for a leather rope within a week. I was quite surprised how easy it was, given that my trapping skill was completely negated by my injuries.

About berries: in my experience the cloudberry is the only one that can keep my characters fed, but I am mostly playing small people so that may make a difference. Surely that extra bird meat is making survival much easier I must say.