F/I) Improve Technology/Resources + Diplomatic Action
The plains were plains for a reason, they were plain... and in hindsight, Voltus should have known that the numbers of trees available there would dwindle. Through out the course of some time, all the oaks within an appropriate range had been chopped and dragged back to the camp and in total there were 53 logs and many sturdy branches; Voltus saw this as an achievement yet he was certain that this wasn't enough, he'd need more.
Voltus stopped his thinking for a moment and turned his eyes away from the bitter river, someone had tapped his back and he looked into the eyes of one of the riders that helped chop and drag wood, "My liege," he began, resting his hand on the hilt of his Aks, "Our riders our ready and fresh horses have been chosen to drag logs back, we are set to go." Voltus nodded and patted the mans shoulder as he walked past, envisioning the grandiose nature of what he was to make of the pile of logs. Voltus did a final inspection of his men before mounting his steed, they were ready to go, their packs filled with bread and oranges, and their Akses sharpened.
They rode, to the north, away from the encampment and along the coast. Voltus, from memory, recalled that to the north of the steppe was a forest at the foot of the mountain closest to the shore and was confident that there were large oaks to be had there. Soon, when the sun rose from over the horizon and sat fully on the water, they arrived at the promised forest and just as Voltus had hoped, large oaks grew plentiful. He dismounted his horse and left it to graze in the grasses around the forest, not needing it for the time being. Voltus had chosen 10 dense oaks and had told his men to start chopping, however as his Aks hit the trunk of the tree, something small and sharp stuck him in the shoulder. He yelped and caught the attention of the men and women chopping down trees. Voltus reached around and felt the thin shaft of what ever had pierced his skin, he pulled it out and to his surprise he found that it was a small projectile, with a sharpened thorn as a head and a thin twig as a shaft, attached to the other end were tufts of tiny feathers.
As he was about to question the strange, tiny spear, another one struck him in the chest but he trailed where it same from and saw a rustle in the bushes. "Show yourself!" he barked and slowly rising from the bushes were creatures unlike any he had ever seen. They were small people, about the length of his forearm each; They were not stalky in their smallness but proportioned correctly, however this is where the similarity between people and them stopped. These small people were part bird, they came in vibrant colors, but mostly greeny-blues and purples; their heads had bird's beaks, thin and pointed like a hummingbird's and the tops of their heads where there should have been hair was feathers, curled and smoothed to look like hair. They had wings too, long for their bodies but beautiful none the less and their bodies were covered in clothes made of leaves.
The big people were outnumbered by the small small people, probably one to five and the little people had curved pieces of wood that flung spears at high speeds. One of the small bird people approached but kept her arm stretched and the spear shooter pulled way back, “how did you change from being four legged to two?” she tweeted.
“How did you form words through your beak?” Everyone chuckled and the bird people chirped in amusement.
“Why did you come to our lands?” she chirped, lowering her spear thrower but still holding it, ready to fire, “And why are you hurting the forest?”
Voltus loosened his grip on his Aks and pulled the tiny spear from his chest, “We came here seeking the flesh of trees.” he replied and held the tiny spear out to the girl bird-person who appeared to be the leader, she slowly fluttered towards him, cautiously and pulled her arrow form in-between his fingers.
“Well you can’t take it from the forest, it’s alive.” Voltus frowned and furrowed his brows, he could have easily killed them all and from the stiff nature of how she held her weapon, she was uneasy with the presence of bigger beings but he felt that violence would only cause more problems.
“Do you have dead trees? ones with no leaves?”
“Yes but why should we give them to you?” she drew her bow a bit more, “after you came upon our territory and harmed the forest.” Voltus thought for a moment and suddenly had an idea, he slowly slipped his hand into his pack and pulled out and orange. The bird lady backed away in horror. “How are you holding the sun!?” she shrieked, Voltus held out his hand in a gesture to calm her down.
“It isn’t the sun, it is food,” he said, peeling the orange and taking out a tiny piece for her and extending it to her, “try.” She fluttered over and kept contact with is eye, with a free hand she put the bow over her shoulder and the arrow back in its quiver. She reached forward and took the speck of fruit from his finger, and hefted it, as it was large in her hand. She brought it to her beak and pulled off a little bit and her eyes went wide, she gobbled it all and Voltus smiled, “That is not all we can offer, bird-woman, the Ventians are willing it cooperate with your kind if it means we can harvest the dead trees.”
She thought for a moment, weighing the remnant of the fruit in her hand as she did, more this would benefit her people a dozen of them could feed her tribe for 2 weeks, “what else can you offer us, Ventunarii?” she chirped.
“Protection.”
Soon the two groups had come to a conclusion and Voltus was being lead through the forest to the dead trees, the she-bird being their guide and the rest of the bird people hanging behind. After the trees were fell, and dragged to the edge of the forest, the she-bird approached Voltus, “What are you called, Ventunarii?” she asked, now completely use to his presence.
“Voltus Ventus, son of Trip Ventus.” The bird seemed to raise an eye brow and she mumbled.
“Son of Trip, you say… I am Finch, Trip’s son.” She paused, “When you return, if you choose to. You have much to learn.” She fluttered off and left Voltus staring at her tail feathers, seeking answers to the questions that screamed in his head but he decided that it was better if they were left for another time because after that, he was sure to meet Finch again.
Summery: A fledgling relation has been built between the Ventians and the Birdpeople, based on mutual trade and the prospect of protection from possible, larger creature.
A long lasting source of wood has been found.
