Arsuron Pop: 140

Arsur Camp: 27
River Camp: 58
Lotus Colony: 55

The Lotus Tribe

The Lotus tribe had come a long way from the Arsur. Following the coastline far beyond their homelands, the Lotus Tribe's boats had come ashore in a new world; at least as they had seen it. Tall trees, so tall and thick that the ground below them has been darkened by their leaves. As the Lotus Arsuron disembarked onto the Shores of this unknown land.

"What are these?" the first of the Lotus Tribesmen said as he rubbed his hand on the trunk of a tree, captivated by its massive size. The others were examining every bit of the flora. Nothing like this had been seen before, these plants were so vastly different from the reeds that sprouted from the riverbeds.

The leader of the Lotus Tribe called his clansmen together. "Tribesmen, on this day we will call this land home, and once we are strong, all these lands will come to us, and we will fight our way back to the homeland, make this forest a part of the Arsur."

And so, the Lotus tribe claimed this hot forest between two rivers as their home.

Anrett and Angar's Troops
@MangoJuice
Anrett had come to enjoy her time with the Rokthan. She was learning much. When the day was over, she found herself relaxing with them; which in itself would be wonderful, but something would happen that would astound her. The fire caught her completely by surprise, and for a second frightened her, bringing memories of grass fires, something that happened often with the dry reeds of the Arsur. But then she realized, the Rokthan had started, and were *controlling the fire*. This was astounding, and Anrett had to know what they were doing. After a while however, Anrett began to feel a bit uncomfortable from the heat, making her skin dried and itchy. She excuse herself to go a bit down the river and rewet her skin. As she splashing water on herself, Anrett heard a voice coming from the riverbanks.

"Anrett, I am giving you a final chance to come back to the Arsur or be exterminated with this villiage" Anrett froze in horror, as she turned back and saw, only visible from the moon's light, Angar, and 5 heavly armed Arsuron Soldiers, each armed with Bone Axes, thick reed armor reinforced with Dolphin bone plates and masked with the traditional war helmet of the Arsuron, crafted from a Dolphin's Skull.

Anrett jumped up, marching over to Angar, "You! What are you doing here! I told you to go back to the river camp and report to Anam! Where is Anlug?!" She shouted at him, only to be answered by a fist to the skull. As Anrett fell to the ground, Angar grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up. "I did indeed return to the Camp, and on my way there, I realized that these people gave me something that grovelling to you and that old man Anam would never get me, a chance at power. So while I conquer this land, and turn these people into slaves, the people will love me for it, thinking that I had destroyed a group of Savages. And you Anrett, you are not even needed anymore, and I am going to get rid of you permanently." Angar then took out his knife and stabbed into Anrett's neck and shoulder, before throwing her into the river.

With Anrett out of the way, Angar marched his soldiers onto Easthome, ready to pillage and destroy as they saw fit, unknowing of the force approaching them. Meanwhile, in the River, Anrett had managed to catch onto a reed and pull herself up out of the river a while down, laying down sorely next to the Canoes. It was then that she saw a figure squirming and struggling in the back of one of them. Anlug. Anrett pushed herself up as quick as she could before managing to cut her fellow scout free. Anlug spoke immediatly in a hushed tone, "Anrett, Angar is a trator, he wants to use this to get support for overthrowing Anam and... Anrett what happened to you!" She spoke up, seeing the stab wound in the upper portion of Anrett's shoulder, close to her neck. "I met up with him, he attacked me at the Rokthan village, and now he is going to attack them as well." Anrett winced from the pain but kept speaking, "I need you to help me get there first and stop him; I will not let him destroy our relations with these people." Anlug agreed and helped Anrett make their way back to Easthome, hopefully being able to stop Angar.

Time: Era of Gray (no precise timekeeping system developed)

Platta Civilization
Population: 103

White

In Platta color symbolism, the color of white has many meanings. As a job, it represents the mediator of agreement for it's a combination of order, place, life, and productivity. They are to help assure agreements are understood. It aids cooperation. More recently since the Platta views have begun to differ more, the Platta who are looking more towards hierarchical organization, see White as a delegator of work.

In the works of art and craft, the making of white dyes is rare, as it is mostly limited to the cloth of the mediators, but it tends to represent an effort or time passage. For example, the plan of movement to an unknown land.

@Elitestpotato
Today, on one scouting mission, something new had been found. While new life had been found occasionally on different scouting expeditions, a new life form had been found that seemed very out of place. It was a white creature that seemed to run and fall in front of some Platta. It seemed like it was running from a threat rather than a charge, and yet it seemed to be a stronger creature. But what made it even odder was that it didn't seem to be a wild animal like most they had found.

Quickly, the map maker of the group got out a clear cloth, and began to draw a picture of the creature. The Platta discussed what to do. They figured more Platta should see it before any decision. The messenger of the group was sent to the nearest camp to get more Platta to investigate. The mediator of agreement happened to be there, and after a quick discussion, the Platta determined the best action was to learn more about the creature as they had with all other life found on exploration, but uniquely, they would bring more Platta, including the children, as this was such a different form of life. The other Platta would be informed by messenger of the outcomes.

When Faw would awake, she would find 24 Platta surrounding her somewhat loosely, wearing different cloths with several colors around their necks. (One color per Platta, though) Some looking at her, some not. One in particular that was looking, was closer than the rest. It had a white cloth. It was sitting near Faw, although far enough to be able to quickly jump back if needed. The Platta had laid some food of different kinds from the area (meat, fruit, vegetables, and fish). A few Platta with red clothes of different shades had spears, but most weren't armed, and none of them were pointed towards Faw. Although the Platta had a 'military', it was really more of a sentry. These Platta were the most defensive, but most Platta were not. They were curious.

The Herenthor, Population:107

A young Herenthor leaned next to a hut as the tribe stood in a circle around the elder, Phamp. An emergency meeting had just been called. A “new” animal had been damaging the tribe’s Semph crops. (A semph is a fruit that grows on bushes, apple-like in flavor and tomato-ish in density) This nuisance would look like a cross between a rat and a hare, except for the fact that it had little consumable meat. The argument during the meeting was on whether or not it was prudent to continue to rely heavily on farming.

“We must rely on hunting once more!” one bold Herenthor shouted.

“NO! There is too much danger in that, we’ve already lost five Herenthor in only four moons due to hunting,” Another cautioned.

The young Herenthor by the hunt yawned. He really couldn’t care less about the debate, no matter how much it affected him. Because of his flippancy, his father would always end up scolding him in his lessons.

“Now Hmph,” he would say, using the boys name, “focus, and rap the grass three times around the stone to tie on your claws.”

“Who cares?” Was always Hmph's response when the he was frustrated.

“Who cares? Who cares!” would be his father’s predictable response, causing himself to get flustered and leave. Leaving Hmph to himself, which was always his goal when his father tried to interact with him.

Hmph was brought back to the present as someone was being restrained by two other Herenthor. The man in question had gotten so fired up about the issue that he tried to attack one of his fellow tribes men. With a smirk, Hmph used the distraction to leave the boring meeting. After a run of about fortyfive (human) minutes, he found his favorite spot in the forest outside the tribes boundaries. Hmph’s favorite part about the place was that it was off limits for him, so he explored there often, having not been caught once since the many moons ago he found the place. As of late, Hmph had been working on building a fort, digging up mud and stones to use as walls. He smiled as he thought about how his parents would react to find that he had muddied his ceremonial skins. Suddenly his smile was wiped off his face as he heard a growling sound. He slowly lifted his head out of the hole he had been digging, to see a very intimidating animal. He had never seen anything like it. It stood on four legs, as tall as a medium sized bush, with long, brown hair. It’s legs were powerful and on its face was a long trunk. Hmph was suddenly fearful for his life, but then he realized the beast, which was about ten meters away, didn’t notice him, it was focused on one of the pests that had been destroying the Herenthor’s crops. With a slash from a clawed paw, the rodent was dead and soon was having its insides sucked out by the other strange animal. Hmph stayed stock still for the next hour, and then was sprinting his way home after the beast had left.

The Cindorayi, Population: 125 (64 Lunysvet, 42 Zemlyarod, 19 Tyrnovuna), Year 15 IL (Inland), Age of the New Moon

(@Elitestpotato)

It was a fairly quiet day in the forest, as seven Cindorayi were chopping at the trees in order to enlarge the path between Lunysvet and the new western village. Suddenly, however, one who was apart from the rest hit the tree and his axe spun out of his hands, flying into the nearby brush. The others chuckled slightly at his mistake, and his fur raised slightly in embarrassment. That Cindorayi, whose name was Kirill, made to retrieve it when he heard strange animal noises. Signaling the others, they quickly grew quiet and made their way over to him.

They spotted through the bushes several large, beastly creatures, one of whom picked up the axe and made coarse, grunting-type noises to the others. They continued to speak in the manner of communication, so the Cindorayi quickly deduced they must be somewhat intelligent, and very dangerous. Quickly delegating by hand signals, one of the Cindorayi immediately began running back to Lunysvet, and the other six emerged from the bushes in a formation like a V to confront the new species.

One of the Cindorayi's greatest abilities is speed, so it would be nigh impossible to catch the runner, especially without advance warning.

---

Back in Lunysvet, Viktorya, the chief scientist of the Cindorayi, has been leading a few others in experimentation upon the new glina substance, adding different mixtures of dirt and rock to it in order to find out what is the best consistency for making things. This knowledge quickly became useful, however, when Ekatyrina proposed that in light of the discovery of the eastern barbarians, the Cindorayi begin construction of a large stone wall around the town.

Mifan, the staple of the Cindorayi agricultural diet, has quickly been adapted and innovated with, to include different combinations of fish and other plants to add flavor and nutrition. Cooking has in fact become a profession with one member of each of the three villages in charge of preparing food for the rest from what they are provided.

Alvith Population: 167 - Age of Rielo
@Cuddle Pot The Alvith child Oarlo enjoyed what he thought was a game. Oarlo would start to pick up everything that was traded for the tusk, placing the toad upon his head. The young Alvith then would wave to the two creatures before going to take everything to hut he lived at with his parents. Oarlo planned to give the toad a name when he could think of one. Raclo and Maule were both confused by sight of what they watched but decided to let it pass. The creatures seemed rather harmless and Maule would head off to go tend the Ogurk herd. Raclo stood his ground making sure creatures had left before returning back into village.

---

The sun was high in sky and Chief Rielo Kriivith had arranged some strips of meat from a Ogurk to lay in the sun. During the night in dreams the Chief had been restless, wanting to discover what he believed Great Serpent had shown him. The heat of sun in sky would dry out the strips of meat left out. Thinking back to carcass that had been dried by sun the mind of Chief Rielo struggled to understand. Then the thought entered his mind and Chief Rielo realized the Great Serpent watchful eye had kept the meat of carcass edible longer by the drying. With ability to keep the meat longer before it began to rot the Alvith would be able to more effectively store food. With this new insight Chief Rielo Kriivith would go to tell those in charge of storing meat in huts discovery.

Dried meat, a gift from the Great Serpent in eyes of Alvith. The watchful gaze of sun ensuring the growth of strength for the Alvith. The ability to keep meat longer meant more food as was less waste from the meat rotting. The population of the Alvith swelled with more young born and with that would come the worry of Chief Rielo Kriivith. The Alvith were strongest they had ever been under the current Chief but concerns now arose in Chief Rielo over the Alvith not having enough space. The huts of Ogurk hide and bone worked fine for population when smaller but the huts of the Alvith were not made to support the numbers currently. The thought of having Alvith split would ruin Chief Rielo Kriivith as it would show weakness but that was all that the Chief could think of.

The Soruli, The First Awakening

Light passes the leaves above to land upon the bodies strewn about on the dirt below, sprawled every which way in a clearing.

Tall lanky shapes, contrasting to the dirt with their grey flesh and clawed little fingers and toes. Manes of fur and the odd feather poking out here and there.

Some lay together, couples or entire groups in what seems to be the quiet comfort of body upon body and body next to body in close contact.

Some are sprawled in midair from the odd branch in the trees above, legs or arms dangling down from the vines suspending them.

Some are curled into an opening within a large large tree, somehow burrowed out and massive enough to go beyond the tops of the trees that already tower.

There is silence then punctuated by a high-pitched vibrating noise.

A body twitches, stirring with life amidst one of the groupings of bodies. A low cluck of discomfort exiting a mouth of itty bitty triangular teeth.

Two large orbs of deep blue open to take in the world.

A long leg laid over its chest, an arm wrapped around its leg and what seems to be drool forming on the fur of its groin from a head that rested there along with the utter shock of the sight it takes in keeps it from rising for a moment.

The nature of a rainforest. Bright of greens, tall of trees, winding be its vines and plentiful its leaves. The flowers of all shapes and sizes, formations and colorations astounded.

Color. Color. Color. WILD COLORS A SPECTRUM OF WONDER!

Its mouth dropped open as it sat up and moved back on its hands and feet, allowing the sleeping companion that used its lower half as a pillow to flop onto the ground by the side of its face. The arm clutching its leg and the leg that had been on its chest both pulled away in an awkward motion as their owners stirred awake, making saddened clucking sounds.

The initial being to awake reached down to pet its companion’s furry heads, even that of the one so gone it kept drooling onto the dirt. Its eyes took in the world around, the bodies of partners together, the leaves, light, plants, air, the massive tree towering above all, thicker than all, encompassing enough to cast shade down upon the gathered Soruli below, its branches letting numerous vines hang to below. Blue eyes spotted the odd fellow somehow suspended amid the vines and with big yellow pools of space gazing downward.

“Je-re?” Our initial creature cawed, astounded at the display of suspension and mind boggled for a moment as to how one got up there to begin with whilst its taloned fingers petted and its caressed partners back to sleep.

“Imaaaa. I flyyyy…” After the warbled greeting, Je-re wiggled his body to make himself swing back and forth as “Ima”, as our main character in this moment of time shall be named, watched on.

“Je-re, you’re not… well, no you’re not but you’re…” Each thought seemed to be interrupted by the sheer motion Je-re was able to summon with his odd jerking and bending. Ima stopped attempting to speak to him entirely when vomit hurled forth from Je-re’s mouth to splash onto the thankfully uninhabited ground below.

Ima turned eyes away from the display, thinking it better it was better for Je-re to purge the…

The...

“...What spirits were taken within?” Ima mumbled, mind searching for the memories that told of what their group had consumed, but only recalled the bending colors, the movement of bodies in dance and in bliss. The cawing and drums that gave tempo to all actions and… everything else blank save the words that came from mouth, names of kin and common sense.

“Good stuff~” Cooed one of Ima’s partners, reaching a hand out to run the soft pads of the taloned hands along Ima’s fur and exposed skin, deep red eyes of space peeking up from a mane of light brown fur.

“Really good stuff~” Cooed another, tongue hanging out of their mouth as lighter red eyes with hair just a shade darker than its other cooing kin, looked upward and an arm attempted to wrap around Ima’s waist.

The Soruli with its head still resting on the ground made some type of garbled response to the dark dirt as Ima pondered all this, allowing its wakened partners to feel and pet as they wished.

A disappointed caw exited Ima’s mouth, “ ‘Good stuff’ that has left me without spirits still within as they continue to dance within others...”

Ima’s blue orbs took in the world around, paying absent attention to the affections of the partners. One taloned hand went through Ima’s head fur, a mane of creamy color speckled with silver feathers.

Disinterested in continuing merging of body and souls when such bounty that incited the natural curiosity lit a different type of spirit in Ima’s chest.

Taloned little feet cross the dirt below, eyes taking in the flowers, the life abound. Hours and hours pass.

~Later That Day~

Leaves, vines and branches intertwining to create shadows in patterns to the flowering growth and the dark dirt below.

Heat. Breathing.

Some shadows fall upon a large mass, at first glance one large creature with a multitude of colors for its pelt and a hundred extending feathers drifting in some subtle breeze where its settled upon the soft ground.

Sleeping. Shifting.

A second glance. The creature writhes and moves gently in one portion or another, as if ever shifting in its sleep. No eyes open. No legs or arms or central mass conveyed amidst all the fur and feather.

Moon light.

A third glance. Soruli manes and feathers turned outward. Bodies piled on top one another to keep warmth close and make them look like some large beast. A natural defense from the smaller and weaker hearted creatures that would approach.

The pale shaft of light illuminates the very top of the mass, causing particular Soruli head to twitch and shift.

A singular section of pale grey flesh, one Soruli face, lifts toward the light of the moon.

One eye opens, a vortex of shifting blue and white that almost challenging the stars above in their brilliant beauty.

Silence. Shaking.

The Soruli's mouth spreads revealing rows of little triangular teeth and a thin tongue of charcoal.

In the next moment it releases a screech that pierces the ears of all near and the calls out toward the heavens.

Terrified. Terrified. Terrified.

@Nerevarine
Some Rokthan were curled up by the fireside sleeping or just taking a load off, some where telling stories, some were dancing, and others were laying on their sides staring at the stars and moon. One of them noticed that Anrett had not been back for a while and decided to head to the riverside to make sure that she was okay. Just then, something lit by the orange glow of the bonfire caught his eye. It was tall. He mistook it for Anrett at first, and was relieved. But that relief would suddenly turn into fear and tension as several more tall figures revealed themselves beside it. His first instinct was to call out to them, but he also wanted to alert the others. All he could do was blurt something out. "H-hey! HEY!!"
This quickly caught the attention of the other Rokthan and they went to investigate. As the tall figures got closer to the fire, the illumination confirmed suspicions that they were of the same people as Anrett. An elder slithers over to the group of Arsuron in an attempt to communicate. The others have reservations over this, but decide not to say anything out of respect. The elder attempts to speak in the being's tongue as best he can, however broken. "Welcome! Our home your home. Other Arsuron Anrett here. We give food!"
@Nerevarine
The warrior troop had arrived at Easthome at last. From the looks of the roaring bonfire across town, things don't seem to be at a complete loss, which was a relief.


"I don't know what to do, Gnila. Was it something I did?" says Shel to his mate after a long day's work.
"Nonsense, love. I'll be fine, Ki'Kisk will be sure of that." Gnila says in response, nudging up against him.
"But that's just it. What if we've angered him? We shouldn't have gone to the peak! It was a terrible idea!"
"The peak isn't his personal castle, love. It's just as much a part of nature as anything else. The legend speaks of that place only as his birthplace, nothing more. If he didn't want us there, he would have said so."
"I suppose you're right. And besides, what's done is done. Whatever comes of that brood I'll try my damnedest to raise it right."

The small one and The map maker made their way back to Middlehome on a quest to map the mountain range. "So, remind me again what we're here to do?"
The map maker sighs. "Again, we're here to consult King Shel on what he found when his group found in the northern range. He has not been particularly vocal about it for some unknown reason, so I intend to find out."
"Why don't we just go and see it for ourselves? I mean, we need to map it anyway."
"I want to be sure that it is not something that should not be seen."

Saurians, Population: 67

As the sun rose over the horizon one early morning, the village was awoken early. The wives and children ran out of their huts to greet the barely arriving party of fishers. Sithalin and his group had returned from their trip at last. Everyone was happy to see that the whole party had returned unharmed after all. Sithalin himself was surprised when the villagers informed him on how late they were this trip.

"The fish have retreated even further," Sithalin explained to the village. "I plan to figure out why this is happening eventually."

The population arranged an early feast around the village fire, as Sithalin and the rest presented the enormous amount of fish they had brought back. Everyone ate cheerfully while the fishers told their stories of the fishing trip. It wasn't long before Sithalin looked around confused and asked why his son had not joined the feast.

One of the villagers shuffled closer and whispered in Sithalin's ear, "Working. He's been with two others, trying to make stronger huts for the village."

Sithalin looked at the villager curiously. "Stronger huts? Interesting. Why now?"

The villager's gaze lowered. His face a bit grim, he replied, "Did you ever know Syeth? Hunter. He died a few days. Hut collapsed on his head."

Sithalin's expression grew dark. "So," He said quietly, "Who are these people my son is working with?"

The villager's expression brightened. "One of them is Serthal, one of the village's better crafters. Not sure how they pestered him to work with them. And," The villager continued, a small grin forming on his face, "the other is a young huntress. Syera is her name."

Sithalin nodded, pleased. "Thank you. Where are they?"

-

"Senith, look out!"

Senith leaped aside as one of the logs rolled unsteadily off of the small pile and crashed down right where he was standing. "T-Thanks," Senith gasped.

Syera paced back and forth, her teeth bared in frustration. "How, how..." She shook her fist angrily and gazed back at the pile of logs. She had not understood exactly how complicated it would be constructing the building. They had intelligently realized that they had to chop down trees in the forest for the thinner and straighter logs, but they still had no idea on how to work with such bulky and heavy resources.

"I thought you had this figured out, Syera," Serthal commented as he idly sharpened his spear nearby.

Syera hissed angrily at the crafter. Serthal laughed.

"So what's going on here?" Called a familiar voice. Senith whipped around to see his father stepping forward, a smile on his face.

"Father, you're back!" Senith exclaimed.

"Please, you did not notice the excitement this morning?"

"I didn't notice either," Serthal murmured.

Sithalin glanced at the tool Senith was holding. "What's this?"

Senith raised the tool up so Sithalin could have a better look at it. It was compareable to a spear, but it was very different. The shaft was much shorter, only a bit longer than their forearms. The head was larger, however, and it was tied to the side of the handle rather than the tip.

Senith grinned. "It was her idea," he said pointing towards Syera, "Her name is Syera. We invented it a couple of days ago. Its called an axe. We can use it to chop down trees."

Sithalin glanced at the pile of tree logs. "I see," He said, returning the grin.

Syera hurried over and respectfully planted her hands over her heart. "Chief, I think these fallen trees, logs, would make much stronger buildings. We'd be at much less risk of a hut collapsing."
Syera scratched at one of her scales uncomfortably, "Despite this progress, we're a bit stuck. We can't figure out how to use the logs like this."

"Well maybe I can help..." Sithalin mumbled as he stepped forward and examined the pile of logs. His mind momentarily blanked until he glanced at a nearby tree. "Maybe you should follow this tree's example," he suggested, "Trees are stuck in the ground. Don't lay the logs horizontally, partially bury them vertically."

Syera gasped. "It was so simple!" Syera placed her hands over her heart again to demonstrate her thanks. "Come on, Senith, Serthal, we've got to try this."

Time: Era of Gray (no precise timekeeping system developed)

Platta Civilization

General Statistics:
Population: 103

Relations:
Snow Brutes: Undetermined

Alternative Explorations

In the eastern most camp, a Platta with a yellow cloth (light + red + green = productivity + order + life = engineer) is exploring more of the concept of mathematics unlike most Platta who prefer to explore the surrounding colors. They find the concept more interesting but also find the intrigue of the colors. They are working on seeing if a way they can be joined together. One way they have found is to use the dissection of colors normally used in Platta job determination. They figure out a way to note a more precise count, as opposed to rough measurements. Precise numbering has existed in the language before, but it now could be drawn.

The Platta informed don't see any purpose to precise records, but this Platta explains why they see great potential in it. That being a strange curiosity, one and one equal two both in the drawn and in nature. The Platta thinks that if the drawn could map what nature did in its entirety, the Platta could figure out what nature sees when it delivers the messages through its colors. The response is generally, "But what could it be besides the color of which it shows?"

@Elitestpotato
Meanwhile, closer to the southern camp, near Faw, the Platta observe Faw eat. Platta with different colors of cloth note different aspects in their own way. Some put more emphasis of the order that the food was eaten. Some put more emphasis on the haste of the consumption. But all record, in rough terms, the apparent communication attempt. Platta notice it doesn't sound like one of anger or fear like the other creatures the Platta have seen. It is unclear whether it is a question or a statement to them, though.

As the Platta don't understand the Snow Brute language, they aren't sure what to make of it. A Platta caretaker in the crowd sees the fact it doesn't know how to speak Platta similar to a younger Platta, and like it, attempts to teach it in similar ways. It makes sure Faw can see it, and tries pointing and speaking the terms of things. The things it starts with are: movement, ground, food, and Platta. These terms are done intentionally to also explain what has just happened to see if the unknown creature seems to understand what happened. After noting the word for Platta, it points towards Faw, but says nothing as if expecting it to answer.

The howling hound clan.
Population: 34 adults, 4 younglings.

The era of flame, year two.

Crimson eyes scanned through the foliage for prey, a large wild boar-like creature being the target. The three pairs of eyes singling out the old and the young. Once an old, fat beast had been decided upon, the trio set their plan into play, the older female lounging out from the treeline into the small clearing while viciously barking, causing the boars to run off towards safety, leaving every boar for him or herself. The two young males had in the meantime circled around the clearing and efficently cut off the escape for the old boar, as well as one of their young whom had been trampled and left behind in the rush, squealing with all that was left of it’s strength, but to no avail.

The two younglings pounced upon the larger boar and sunk their claws into it’s flesh, dragging it down to the ground, while the older female had secured the injured young with a killing bite to the neck without any major resistance. The older boar put up a fight however, thrashing itself back and forth violently, trying to shake the attackers off, but only caused the claws to rip deeper wounds, the younglings holding on to it for their lives, the older female watching them carefully.

-Minutes later-

The old boar had finally bled out. The female had watched passively untill now as the two younglings struggled. She snarled at them and folded her ears back.

“Sloppy. So much wasted blood and time because neither of you were brave enough to finish it. Shamefull. But well done on the chase. As punishment for the slow kill, you will take turns carrying the big one home.”

She slowly stood up on her hind legs and grabbed the smaller boar, waddling away with it towards the dens, the two younglings struggling too keep up.

-Hours later by the dens-

The hunting party of three had finaly made their way back to the hillside where the clan of ashen had made their home, their eyes taking in the well hidden dens and the stockpiled food lying near the most central den, the carved trees and the rocks lying around primite firepits with deep clawmarks scratched into them. The female barking for those that were in the dens to come out while the younglings practiced their howls, calling for those further away to return home.

Twenty hounds of differing size and shades of coloring emerged from their dens, forming a circle around the three and their caught prey while a larger male entered the circle. The hunters laid down next to the prey they had brought down. The male eyed the larger boar carefully, looked at it’s wounds and huffed.

“You are not worthy to be called adults yet. Kill swiftly, move on to the next prey. We are a large family, we need more food. When the darkness falls, you will go and hunt again. I expect more then.”

The younglings bowed their heads to the Alpha and walked out to sit in the circle.

The Alpha proceeded too inspect the female’s kill.

“An easy kill… Was already injured before an ashen laid as much as a paw on it. Good choice of prey. But I expected nothing less of my daughter. You get to rest. Sereh will hunt with the younglings next time.”

The female bowed her head just as the males had and joined the circle while the Alpha male dug in on the older boar’s flesh, ripping lose a sizeable chunk of it with ease. He left the circle and trotted off into his den. As soon as the Alpha male had left the circle, the other members of the clan dug in, snarling and growling at eachother in a frenzy, blood and entrails flying left and right.

OOC: A short dialogue post.

The Cindorayi, Population: 131 (65 Lunysvet, 45 Zemlyarod, 21 Tyrnovuna), Year 16 IL (Inland), Age of the New Moon

The Southern group is startled by the odd looking creatures, and their obvious combat formation. Hof orders the group into a combat formation of their own, with all 14 Warriors armed with swords and axes up front forming a wall, with the 8 hunters behind them, ready to heave their Spears over the wall towards the creatures, and the 2 tool makers bringing up the rear. Hof thought for a second that maybe the odd creatures could be somewhat reasoned with, like Dud had done with all the tribes. Maybe this group was just another tribe.
"We not want to hurt." awkwardly rumbles out of the Leader's throat.
He definitely wasn't as talented as Dud at this.

As the foreign creatures formed up, their numerical advantage became obvious and the Cindorayi tensed themselves to run.

But Sonya, the leader of the small group, gestured to them to put their weapons by their sides. They did so, as to appear nonthreatening. When the other creature made noises at them, Sonya responded, "Peace be with you," despite knowing that they would probably not understand.

She then pointed at herself, and said "Cindorayi." in a clear voice. She then pointed at them and shrugged her shoulders as if in question.

Time: Era of Gray (no precise timekeeping system developed)

Platta Civilization

General Statistics:
Population: 103

Relations:
Snow Brutes: Undetermined

Language Building

The engineer in the eastern camp works more on drawing and figuring out its working. It soon joins a scouting mission as part of its regular work and to see what ideas nature can tell it.

@Elitestpotato
At the same time, near Faw, the Platta observe and listen closely. The caretaker and most Platta think Faw has understood the words, and attempted to communicate that it was running from a threat, arrived here, is weakened, and requesting help. The Platta see no reason to not help out. The Platta with the white cloth gets more food for it of the various types.

The caretaker teaches more words to aid communication further. The message of response is also said with it. "Platta" (gesturing around to also show Platta as all, not just one), "help" (gesturing towards the white clothed Platta delivering food), "food" (gesturing towards the specific food). A pause is made to show the end of the sentence before continuing. "fear causer" (imitating Faw's look of the creature that was chasing), "nowhere around" (gestured by looking around with relaxed muscles). After a pause to let that sentence end, the caretaker continues. "More" (shown by multiple hands pointing to something) "Snow Brute" (pointing back to Faw with more of a look of curiosity than explanation as was done during the last gesture towards Faw. Or in full, the Platta have intended to say "Platta help [with] food. Fear causer nowhere around. More Snow Brute?" The Platta are essentially agreeing to help with food, explaining the threat is gone, and are asking if there are more Snow Brutes around.

Although the Platta have had tensions between them, it has almost never gotten to the point of killing each other, so the Platta generally find the ability to communicate, whether similar in Platta voice or specific words, a hint that something that shouldn't be killed. Platta color patterns can also do this, but don't have this as strongly due to the varied nature of the colors, and how food can have many colors.

Arsuron: Pop 150

Arsur Coast: 33
River Camp: 55
Lotus Colony: 60

Lotus Colony:
The sun rose upon the thick jungles of the land that the Lotus Arsuron had claimed for their new home, far from the raids of rival tribes and the oppressive policies of Anam and his tribal alliance. It had been a long day, spent using shark toothed saws to clear the land of these trees. The greatest problem faced by the Lotus Tribe Arsuron was the fact that their reed boats had begun to rot away after the long journey south. No longer useful, the Arsuron needed homes, but traditional grasses were not to be found here, the tall trees killing off whatever vegetation would have sprung up on the ground. All that remained was moist dirt and dead wood. The traditional Arsuron saws were unsuited to cutting wood this thick; the saws of the Arsuron were little more than carved driftwood made into the shape of a flat paddle with sharks teeth embedded in the wood. Through a use of stone hand axes and saws they had removed quite a bit of trees, making an artificial clearing, and tossing the trees into the ocean as waste intitally, but soon finding that the trees were able to float once hacked into pieces, the Lotus tribe found the answer to their problems. Later the trees were hacked to pieces and then cut into pieces able to be assembled, though a long series of trial and error, the Lotus had created houseboats that could replace their grass based homes. The Lotus tribe found as well that the wood cut from the trees was better in quality than the traditional driftwood used on the Arsur. The Lotus people then decided to take advantage of their position and acquisition of resources. The Lotus tribe sent a cargo ship north, carrying wood to the Arsur camp and establishing a trade route for them. In return for wood, the Alliance would send dolphin bone, a useful material for ritual uses and cultural reasons. The Dolphin's bone was needed for the traditional masks and the ritual garb of warriors.

Arsur Coast
A striking development had taken place in the waters of the traditional Arsur homeland. Fishermen spearhunting off the coastline encountered a mysterious material after straying too far from the usual hunting grounds.

"Hurry up! They're gettting away!" the first fisherman shouted to his partner, a woman fresh into her adult life learning the basics of underwater fishing. An Arsuron can breath underwater, but only if moving or in flowing water. Today they were hunting dolphins, boats overwater were being used to heard the pod into a cove to be killed. The boatmen threw stones and banged stones together to create noise and frighten the animals. As the dolphins were pushed into a cove, the boats blocked off the opening, hurling stones at any dolphin trying to pass their line as spearmen hoped overboard to finish them off. But Dophins were smart animals, and often another group would separate. For this reason, another group was dispatched to track down the secondary group. The second fisher was lagging behind tired, but her mentor had to push her on. As they progressed, the girl was too tired to go on. As she swamp lightly with her mentor, the two Arsuron found strange stones laying on the seabed. The stones were a deep bluish green, crumbly in appearance. The new fisher was enchanted by their strange appearance, and as she inspected the stone closer, she felt the abnormal weight of the stone, and the bits of orangish shiny surfaces on it.

The girl was excited of this find. She immediatly felt the need to show her superior.

"Look! Look at this stone!" She said, swimming quickly over to her teacher, showing him the green stones. The first fisherman was also intregued by the stones, and he suggested that they take them back to the alliance camp and make them into something.

When the hunt was over, the Arsuron had dragged up 10 dolphin, enough to provide food for the nomads for months. Preparations would take place on the coastline to prepare the meat for storage. On the coast, the hunters began mixing sea water with the natural sandy soil, reinforcing it with grass to create a temporary drying house. The adobe would only last long enough to salt the meat and let it it dry out, later falling appart into a mound of dirt dust. While at the camp, The two fishermen began trying to work the stone, finding that this stone was unlike any that they had encountered before. At each attempt to knap it only served to dent it, like some kind of soft material. Scrapping it against another stone seemed to smooth it, but as the green layers came off, shiny brown took its place. It was at this point that the two decided to find an experienced toolmaker.

"Anńa!" the first fisheman said to adress the toolmaker.
"Hail, Anńa. What do you require assistance for?" the toolmaker replied to the fishermen.
"Toolmaker, we discovered this stone on the ocean floor today," he said, taking out he partially worked green and brown stone. "My student and I attempted to work it, but we are encountering difficulties"
The toolmaker took the stone and began trying traditional stone techinques, when that did not work, he tried those used for bone. But this stone did not take to either. It was at this point that the tool maker tried a new approach. He took a hammer and decided to force a cleave in the stone by hammering it. But upon the first hit, he found that the stone did not crack, but flattened. The tool maker was stunned. "Anńa...I have never seen anything like this before..." the toolmaker informed them as he hammered the stone once again, flattening it more. The stone was a mystery, and the toolmaker requested to keep all the stones that the fishermen had drug up from the seafloor. He would take the collection of soft green stones to his fellow toolmakers and see how they could be worked. Unbeknownst to all, these Arsuron had dragged from the sea a material that would change their world once they learned how to harness its power, Copper.

Easthome

@MangoJuice
Angar laughed when the elder Rokthan approached him and began trying to speak with him. Angar replied, though his speech was much more eloquent. "Know this, beast, this land will be Arsuron's homes for all time." He said as he called in his troops. Immediatly, the Arsuron soldiers began to charge into the village, attacking anyone and anything that dared to get into their way. The weapons of the Arsuron were all crafted from bone, bone tipped spears, bone axes and shark tooth saws. From the darkness, Anrett and Anlug were watching, trying to devise a plan on how to stop Angar's soldiers. It was then that Anlug took notice of something over the horizon. They looked to be Rokthan. If they saw the trecherious behavior of Angar, it would destroy any further relations between their people. "Anlug, I need you to keep them away from the village, however you can. Stealth techniques were common among the Arsuron scouts, and Anlug only needed a few moments to redirect the path of the Rokthan warriors. Meanwhile, Anrett thought of how to get rid of Angar.

As the soldiers were attacking, Angar took notice of the giant hut that must have been constructed to accommodate Anrett. He instructed his soldiers to herd the Rokthan into that burrow, and soon they were attacking and trying to get whatever Rokthan they had caught into the large burrow to deal with later. As Anrett watched them, she noticed something that could help this, the Arsuron soldiers were converging into one area, and the bonfire was nearby. The unstable wood that was used could be knocked over onto the soldiers and Angar. Anrett stayed in shadows, only slightly illuminated by the fire but obviously injured, and holding her knife towards the fire, waiting for the Rokthan to be safely in the burrows as not to be caught in the impending firestorm.

Meanwhile, Anlug had caught up to the soldiers near the village. As they were getting closer, Anlug jumped out right in front of the soldier's line of sight, holding her canoe oar like a weapon and looking as threatening as possible to try and get them to target her, and then take off in the opposite direction to lead them away.

The Cindorayi Republic, Population: 142, Year 18 IL, Age of the Quarter Moon

@Elitestpotato

Sonya smiled when the other creatures responded in kind, calling themselves "snobrewts". She quickly asked one of the others a question, and they handed over a moon crystal they had handy as they knew pacified the creatures in the east. She also took a pearl necklace from off of her neck, and placed one in each of her hands. She cautiously approached the creatures, offering it to the one in the front.

---

In the main town of Lunysvet, the entire population had gathered in the central square for a single purpose: the election of the new leader of the entire Cindorayi civilization. The votes from each of the other two villages were brought on stone tablets, though heavy, for counting. When the vote counter was finished, she announced: "Ekatyrina has been confirmed, with seventy-six votes, as the leader of all the Cindorayi."

"Thank you," replied Ekatyrina. Though the others who ran were slightly disappointed, they respected the vote and nodded their approval.

There was some discussion amongst the Council, and when it was finished Ekatyrina said:

"The Cindorayi Council has come to the conclusion that no leader of the Cindorayi should rank above any other, or be treated any differently from anyone else. As such, the leader of the Cindorayi, beginning with Ekatyrina, will be known as the First Citizen, the first among equals."

"The Council will be elected similarly, as every Cindorayi votes for who they believe would be best for each role."

"An election will be held every six years, to either confirm the current leader and councilors or choose new ones. This will mark the era of a new form of government, one we call a 'republic'. May it last a hundred years of learning!" The other Cindorayi all around cheered.

---

In the nearby village of Tyrnovuna, experimenting with ways to make agriculture easier, one of the farmers devised a shape of stone tool he called a plow, which makes a narrow trench in the ground that seeds can then be placed into. This makes them much likelier to grow and to not be washed away. This invention is quickly spread to the other villages for its utility.

Agriculture: 4/4
Masonry: 2/4
Stone tools: 4/8
Writing: 3/6

The Cindorayi Republic, Population: 142, Year 18 IL, Age of the Quarter Moon

@Elitestpotato

Sonya chuckled slightly with amusement as the Snow Brutes tried to eat the pearl necklace. But they appeared similarly stunned by the moon crystals as the Cindorayi were when they first found them. The Snow Brute holding it shrugged at her as if asking what it was for or from.

Sonya took the crystal lightly and mimed it falling, pointing at the moon above, to express that the crystals were a gift from the moon to her people on earth. She then shrugged in response, not knowing what the true purpose was.

Thinking that the creatures were hungry based on their reaction to the pearl, Sonya asked a couple of them to open their interwoven twine bags, and they offered gifts of fish and fruit to Hof, gesturing to the others that he had with them.

@Mihndar

Hof picked up one of each of the two new things.
"Maybe this is food...?" From again suggests.
Hof takes a bite of each and exclaims, "It's good! One is type of new meat, other is some sweet sort of meat. Maybe other types of Jek around?"
The other Brutes agree that this is a possibility.
Hof reaches into a Jek skin bag and pulls out a few thick, sturdy Jek hides, offering them to Sonya. He also grabs points to a Brute spear then a Cindorayi spear and shrugs, indicating that he wants to compare the two weapons/hunting tools.

Sithalin easily managed to gather a few more workers from the village to aid in the construction. Everyone was excited to work on the new houses.

Syera decided that it would be a good idea that they upgrade one of the existing huts, rather than make a completely new one. They decided to vote on it, but it obvious whose house would be upgraded. The moment Sithalin put forward his vote, everyone who hadn't voted yet quickly voted for his decision.

"Its decided then, I guess," Syera announced, "The Chief's hut will be upgraded first."

Thus, construction began. They decided to be at least somewhat smart on the construction. They used the existing hut as a reference while they scratched out a larger square line around it. Minor modifications were then made if Sithalin thought it was too small or too big. Finally, the old hut was torn down. They were careful about not ruining any of the parts; the resources could still prove to be useful.

A crowd gathered to watch as the workers began digging out a trench in the ground along the line they had drawn earlier. The trench was just thick enough to fit a tree log. The task grew more difficult as they tried to crudely measure and guess how deep the trench had to be. The walls had to be high enough that the ceiling inside would be a comfortable height, but they also had to be deep enough that the logs were securely trapped in the trench. Some of the logs had to be shortened to fit in better with the rest.

Some other Saurians from the onlooking crowd stepped forward to offer help, which was greatly appreciated. With the new workers, the tasks were being finished at a much faster pace.

As the sky barely started to darken, they started the next task. They dragged logs to the trench and prepared to stand them up. Two or four Saurians lifted one end of the log and pushed it towards the trench. The other end would catch on the edge of the trench. Very carefully, they lifted the log above their heads and walked towards the other end, the log rising higher and higher until it finally sank all the way into the trench. They continued to repeat this procedure for each of the logs they had prepared. They managed to finish nearly half of one of the walls before they decided that it was too late to continue any further.

Serthal having one of the bigger huts, reluctantly agreed to allow Senith and Sithalin sleep at his place until construction was complete.

-

The next morning, Senith, Sithalin, and Serthal went straight to the construction site to continue, despite their aching arms.

Syera greeted them at the construction site with the rest of the workers. "We've got a few more workers than yesterday. The people are excited to see the results," She explained cheerfully.

"Perfect," Sithalin replied. He paused and stared at Syera suspiciously. Syera stirred uncomfortably. "Syera, I don't think its a good idea for you to work with us."
He looked up at the other workers, scanning their faces, before turning his attention back to Syera.

"What?! Why?!" She exclaimed angrily.

Sithalin looked tired as he merely brushed the back of his hand against her throat. Syera's eyes widened, her hand flying up to touch her throat.

"Its best you get off the job before it truly starts," Sithalin continued.

"Y-Yes..." She agreed.

Senith squinted his eyes as he leaned forward to examine Syera's throat. The scales on her throat strangely seemed to have taken on a faint orange hue. Syera quickly turned away and hurriedly made her way back to her hut.

They quietly turned back to the construction and began the work. While Sithalin and the majority of the workers set to work on planting more logs, Senith along with a few others worked on another task they had forgotten the other day. With the dug up dirt, they filled any extra space in the trench in order to tighten the grip on the logs.

Once the first wall was finished, a couple of workers ran out of the village and came back with the longest vines they could find. They used these tie the logs together, ensuring their stability even further.

With the extra workers and their new experience, the walls were finished by the time it was sunset. All the building was missing at this point was a proper ceiling, a slight problem they had not considered.

They finally came to the conclusion that they could use logs again, though it would be a bit different and a lot more difficult. The logs they had chopped weren't long enough to cover the full distance from one wall to another.

Sithalin sighed, massaging his sore arms. "We'll figure this out in the morning, but we did it. This has been a great accomplishment by all of us."