What you look for are the Surtling Cores and in general you won't need that many early game.

You will need:

-5 for a Charcoal Kiln;
- 5 for a smelter;
- 4 for 2 portals.


Those 14 can easily found by exploring 3-4 dungeons in the Black Forest.


What I suggest you could do, is to prepare a double trip into that area.

The first trip is used for exploration only. Meaning bring your best weapons and armour with you; as well as enough food for both health and stamina (2:1 ratio); but nothing else.

Use that trip to check to find the locations of copper ore, burial chambers and possible troll caves. Kill anything that attacks you, but for now pick up only the important stuff. Like leather, seeds, bones, blueberries and thistle. Mark the locations of any dungeon, burrial chamber and copper ore deposit at your map and return home when your inventory if full.

The 2nd trip will be your hunting trip.
Make sure everything you own is repaired and restocked. It would be wise to bring double amounts of food with you, as you may need a lot; but make sure you got the last 3 quick slots filled with food items. Having a stamina or health potion added may be a good thing as well. Keep your inventory empty of anything else, because you will need that space.

In general you would need the following:

Quickslots:
- Weapon of preference (I advise a club at highest possible level)
- Shield / Buckler
- Bow
- Torch
- Health / Stamina potion
- Food 1, max amount (health)
- Food 2, max amount (health)
- Food 3, max amount (Stamina)

In your inventory you put your best armour. Troll is preferred, but highest ql leather when you don't have troll; as well as (at least) 100 burning arrows, the stamina / health potion and spare food if you think the 20+ of each you have in the quickslots isn't enough.. As well as an axe and hammer. This may sound odd, but you will need both later.

Oh and in case you don't want to bring an axe, just pick up the wood from the branches, but keep in mind you'll need a spare inventory slot for that. And occasionally you won't have that after you cleared out a chamber.

Head out to the burrial chambers you discovered and enter it. Explore the chambers using the "left hand wall hugging" method and pick up all the yellow mushrooms you find, as well loot all the chest you'll find. Usually that'll help you ending up with having mushrooms, gold, amber, rubies and amber pearls, as well as feathers, stone arrows, bones and surtling cores in your inventory. As well as torches, but you wouldn't need them much.

When you've done the exploration, head out, cut down some trees, turn them into wood and head back into that chamber until you get the "sheltered" option. Build yourself a workbench there, repair all your items and head out to the next burrial chamber, where you do the same.

With some luck you will have to visit only 2 burrial chambers for the required amount of surtling cores. First things to build are a charcoal burner and a smelter (and in that particular order); which gives you the opportunity to create the required metals to build a forge; which in turn will give you bronze gear, making clearing out dungeons a bit easier.

As for the remaining 4 needed for a portal; You will need two portals to access the trader. One is build at your base, the other one at a forward base near the trader; giving you quick access to him. You can use that portal to explore the area around the trader for more burrial chambers, giving you even more access to surtling cores.

Thorin :)