Ozzy explained how gopher hunting worked.

"I'm going to thump my hammer on the ground hard, and it will drive out all the critters living underneath.

Most normal gophers won't survive, but there's a chance of having a bigger one down there.

Those will be higher level and might even have a name.

You have to be careful of them.

Just run away and come towards me or one of the other workers.

If we can catch them, one of us will pin them down and let some of you hit at them to gain experience and points.

We brought along a few dozen extra adzes in one of the wagons.

Everyone should grab one.

You can keep them and use them on the farms, but today, they are the weapon of choice for hunting Named critters."The blacksmiths had been forging adze for months, ever since the skill was found usable by anyone.

Over time, the workers had upgraded from iron or steel weapons to magical Adze from chests or better weapons forged from Dark Steel and Ironwood.

Ozzy had loaded over a hundred of the old tools in a wagon and began passing them out to everyone.

They were one of the oldest tools humanity had used.

They could strip bark, shape wood, and hoe weeds, and while not a great weapon, they were better than nothing.

They were the worst weapon anyone had seen at 10% to hit and ten damage.

But dozens of contract workers were at level 5 in the skill with enhanced STR, and everyone was required now to gain at least rank 5 and 5 STR.

In their hands, the adze was a deadly weapon.Gophers around Sedgewick were a hearty breed, weighing nearly two pounds.

Many gardens had fallen to their appetites.

Ozzy had spent some time before his vacation in the Smoke, clearing them out from farm to farm.

It wasn't a permanent solution, but it saved many carrots from being eaten by hungry rodents.

Makken was the only farmer without a gopher problem.

When Ozzy volunteered to clean the ground around his farm, the dwarf just laughed.

"There isn't a burrowing critter alive that can eat my peppers and live.

But if I ever find one, I'll knock it in the head and turn it into a pet.

So keep a lookout for me." Taking the Hammer of Gopher Thumping, and headed to the center of one of the acres set aside for farmland.

It was a ferocious-looking hammer.

The oak head was a foot in diameter and two feet long, had steel on both ends and a thick handle.

If a god ever wanted to play croquet, the mallets would look like this.

A square acre is about 200 feet on a side.

The hammer had a 100' radius when 'thumped' on the ground.

He planned to move through the area, clearing out the rodents and overlapping his hits to get good coverage.

He could use the hammer once a minute, but it took longer than that to clear the surviving creatures, especially if he got a rare named boss.

He slammed the hammer on the ground and saw the ripples move away from him.

They kept moving, even after they hit the 100-foot mark.

The farmers and workers were standing past that mark, and most were knocked over.

The Legendary Hammer of Gopher Thumping is thrilled to be used by a mighty warrior that hasn't neglected his gathering skills.-Radius of effect is doubled to 200' by Abundance 5.-Chance of a Named creature is significantly increased by Skilled Provider 3.Quest: The South Farthing Gopher Wars never ended; they just moved to other gardens.

Stop the invasion of Gophers in your lands.Success: Increased yield of crops in all 'Thumped' lands around the new hamlet.Failure: No carrots for you! Rampaging gopher hordes will eat anything you plant for the next two seasons before moving on to a nearby village.