[hider=Information] ============================================================ [b]Saurians[/b] [b]Population:[/b] [color=8fff3d]68[/color] [b]Important Figures:[/b] [color=8fff3d]Sithalin[/color] [b](Chief) |[/b] [color=8fff3d]Senith[/color] [b](Chief's son)[/b] [b]Semi-Important Figures:[/b] [color=8fff3d]Syera[/color] [b](Huntress) |[/b] [color=8fff3d]Serthal[/color] [b](Expert crafter) |[/b] [color=8fff3d]Sithel[/color] [b](Hunter)[/b] [b]Technology[/b] [b]Stone Tools:[/b] [color=8fff3d]4/4[/color] [b]Construction:[/b] [color=8fff3d]4/4[/color] ============================================================ [/hider] "Sithel!" The hunter turned as one of the Saurians of his new hunting party called out to him. "What is it?" He asked. "We think we found the old camping site of Senith's party!" Explained the hunter. He pointed towards a small clearing some distance away into the swamp. "Perfect," Replied Sithel. "That means we must be close to the kryan as well as the edge of the swamp. We'll be in unknown lands soon enough." "Shall we start searching for kryan then?" Asked the hunter. "Yes, start now and look for them while you can. I don't want us to waste too much time looking for kryan, though. We have much land to explore, I'm sure." - The hunting—or scouting—party consisted of an average seven Saurians. No females were present this time, though. "The time of children" as they called it, had already started; bringing the huntresses on a long trip such as this one could have proven dangerous. Sithel, excited as he was to continue their journey, didn't want any distractions. The first few days in the southernmost swamps were spent hunting after the kryan birds. While the meat most certainly wouldn't last for when they returned to the village, they knew that the feathers and other miscellaneous resources would prove useful. At last, on the third day of the hunt, one of the hunters was lucky to spot a kryan. They managed to kill it, and they happily prepared it for the night. "Have you noticed," Said one of the hunters to Sithel that night, "that there aren't any teskur down here?" Sithel took a moment to finish chewing his mouthful before replying. "The dirt here isn't like the dirt around the village. Teskur are big and heavy. They wouldn't like it here." "True, true," Murmured the hunter. There was a short uncomfortable pause as the two continued eating in silence next to each other. Finally, the hunter remembered something he wanted to mention. "Sithel, what if we can't find our way back? We have always used the lake to find the village. What will we do if we continue beyond?" "We won't," Sithel replied simply. "We will keep the lake in sight. We still have much to explore. We haven't seen the other side of the water. Maybe there isn't one. We won't know until we have gone to see for ourselves." The next morning, the hunters quickly gathered up all their supplies in preparation for the rest of their trip. Everyone was anxious. No other Saurian had ever ventured farther from the village than that point. They would finally step into truly unknown lands... [img]http://i.imgur.com/N5pHwMn.png[/img] - After a few days of observing how the cabin held up, everyone agreed that the construction was a success. It was larger, tougher, and more stable. It was a definite upgrade, but the obvious difficulty was the time and effort it took to build even one of these buildings. Despite this obstacle, the village was determined to rebuild everyone's huts. One morning, Senith and Sithalin were resting in their cabin, idly chipping spearheads. "Father," Senith suddenly said. "Hmm?" Replied Sithalin distractedly. "Do you think those hunters will find anything interesting on their travels?" Asked Senith curiously. "I don't know," Sithalin admitted. "No one has been that far before. We have always been right here." "But then when did we get here?" Senith wondered. Sithalin paused. "No one remembers," He finally said after a short while. Senith sat there quietly for a while, scratching at his fin before getting up. "I'm going out for a bath," Announced Senith before making his way to the doorway. He brushed past the leaf curtain. He blinked in the bright sunlight as he gazed around the village. Already, he could see construction of another cabin starting nearby. He would've gone to help, but he was still feeling sore from the previous construction. He wanted to relax for a while. He left the village and followed the lake's shore for some short distance until he found a small cluster of bushes which provided a reasonable amount of privacy. He stripped out of his loincloth and decorative straps and bands. He sank into the cool water and quickly felt himself calm. After several days of hard work, it felt good to relax for once. The log cabin's construction was certainly difficult. Lots of energy was wasted on mistakes and pointless effort. It was their first time building anything like it. They barely knew what they were doing. Now that they knew what to do, however, Senith was certain that the new cabins would take much less time and effort to build. A stray thought popped into his head. Syera who had been the very saurian who dreamed up the idea, had not yet seen the finished product. He scratched at a scale on his arm as he pondered. It would be a most… inconvenient time to visit her alone in her hut to tell her. He wasn't sure if he should even bother. He couldn't help feeling, however, that she deserved to see the results. Finally making up his mind, he climbed out of the lake, dressed himself again, and made his way back to the village. He was almost taken aback at the sudden change. Already another two huts had been torn down to make way for the new cabins. It was obvious that the villagers were excited to make the upgrades. Before long, he found himself at Syera's hut. He paused in front of the doorway for a moment, once again questioning whether he should speak with her during this time. Finally, he steeled himself and stepped through the leaf curtain. Syera was sitting in the corner of the hut, a half-finished spearhead in her hands. Lying on a square of hide next to her were another ten fully finished spearheads. The hut seemed to be filled with a strange smell. Senith quickly noticed her bright orange neck when she looked up at him as he entered. "Senith..." She murmured quietly. "S-Syera, I just wanted to tell you that the log cabin was finished… You haven't seen it yet, have you?" - "Sir, you called me?" Asked the hunter politely, stepping through the cabin's doorway. "I want you gather a small group of fishers," Said Sithalin. "This is something I've almost forgotten to address. I want you to commence a search in the lake. I won't be able to join you today, I'm too tired right now." "What exactly will we be looking for, chief?" "Fish," Explained Sithalin, "Or anything that might explain why the fish aren't here anymore. If we could perhaps remove it somehow, we may not need to make such long trips to catch fish anymore." "Very well. I shall get on that," Said the hunter. Without another word, he exited the cabin. Sithalin sighed and picked up his spearhead and went back to chipping away at its edge.