[OOC] The Walk of Ice- A Prehistoric Tale

[Enigmatik]

This winter, things are wrong. The animals left too early- the winds too cold. The shaman has talked to the ancestors. They talk of a winter, many lives ago, a winter that seemed to never end. No summer, just the cold and the wind. The moons passed as normal, but the weather never changed. Last time, it almost spelled the end of the tribe, and it was the time when they migrated to their current lands.
Now, it seems, the great winter has come again. But, there is some measure of hope. There are legends, heard from other tribes and the ancestors. A path, treacherous and dangerous, but a path across the great sun sea, one that takes those who cross it to a new land. The sun land. Normally, such legends wouldn’t be considered, but the circumstances…

And so, it has come. The tribe has packed up, what little food gathered over the meagre summer has been gathered up. Everyone is coming- not one member wants to be left behind to face the unending winter. The shaman has divined a path, the huntsmaster ranged wide to find alternatives. There are none left. It is time to take the Walk of Ice, for a chance of life is better than certain death.

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The Walk of Ice is a prehistoric RP set as the last great ice age encroaches. The tribe we are part of are no strangers to harsh winters- they live in the part of what we now call Russia just above the steppes of Mongolia. They have ranged here for generations, but a trying winter, then a poor summer and unseasonably small number of animals have forced them to begin the Walk of Ice- a mythical passage to the land where the sun rises.

This passage will take them north, through the freezing tundra of Siberia, then across the Bering Land Bridge to what we now Alaska, and then back down south once more, where hopefully the RP can have a timely conclusion in the Great Plains.

Since I am no expert in prehistoric culture, flora, fauna, or really anything that I can’t find from a google search and maybe going to the second page. Because of this, I do not expect anyone else to hold to an absolute sense of (pre)historic accuracy. The technology level is stone age, with no metals having been forged yet, and the ‘religion’ of the time is ancestor worship, meaning that burial is extremely important, not only culturally, but also religiously.

Whilst they are a stone age people, they are not primitive. Crude leathers, proper winter clothes, including snow goggles, and effective hunting tools are all well within their capabilities. There will also be touches of Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane in what the shaman does, and the taming (but not domestication) of small animals will be capable. (Or even normal sized animals- I’m not opposed to having someone raise a grey wolf from birth as a sort of precursor to a dog.)

The environment will be freezing. Obviously it’s the start of an Ice Age, but we’ll also be very north for a lot of the time, and crossing glaciers and frozen rivers will almost certainly be a part of this journey. All reasonable megafauna will also be in the area- so whilst you won’t find an Australian megafauna marsupial, you’re likely to find a Great Stag or Dire Wolf, regardless of if they were extinct at the time.

If there’s anything you desperately need to know, pop a question down and mention me, and I’ll try to answer it as best I can. I’ll probably even end up assembling an FAQ.

Finally, I desperately need you to be dedicated to this. I don’t expect you to be posting every day, especially as this is an advanced RP, but please, please, please don’t drop out of it after posting once, or in the middle of a conversation. If you need to drop out, tell me, try to finish any interactions, and then leave. Thanks.

[Enigmatik]

Character Sheet:

Basics
Name: I’ll only say no if it’s either completely stupid, or unsuitable for the time period (Zog and Dave are two names that I would think are stupid, for example.) Surnames are not needed.
Role: Some tribesmembers will have a specific role, such as the huntsmaster(who organises megafauna hunts,) shaman (who communes with the ancestors,) and any other one you can think of. If you don’t want a specialist role, then feel free to just say ‘tribesmember.’
Age: It’s important to note that the reason why life expectancy was so low was because of large amounts of childhood deaths. People generally didn’t keel over in the prime of their lives. For this RP, the lowest age we’ll go is 16, and the oldest will be 48. The shaman can be 50-60. No higher than mid sixties.
Appearance: We’re still Homo Sapiens, but take into account clothing, scars, tattoos, and the like. Small traces of Neanderthal and Denisovan blood will be accepted. If you want to make a true hybrid, just ask me!
Gender: Since the entire tribe is on the move, it leaves this open for female character.
NPCs: You can draft entirely new sheets for them, or use this to list off characters that are closely associated with yours. A brother or sister, lover, or even animal companion can go here.

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Biography:
Story: The history of your character. Doesn’t have to be long or detailed, but a rough idea of what they’ve done, if they were born into the tribe or a wanderer that joined them, and so on. Note that any outstanding achievements will not go here, but instead in a separate place a bit further down.
Personality: Simple enough. You’ve done an RP before.
Glory: If your character has gone above and beyond in some way, this is where you record that fact. If they have landed the killing blow on a megafauna creature, or saved someone from a rushing river, or survived a night in the wild in the middle of winter, with nothing but their own clothes and a knife.
Skills: What they bring to the table. A good hunter, artist, a ‘midwife,’ tool maker, or anything else is useful. Note that you don’t have to be skilled in something to do it- anyone can go out and pick some berries, or gather water in skins.

[The Harbinger of Ferocity]

Do let me know what you think, @Irredeemable.

Urdash

Name:
Urdash

The name Urdash is not native to this tribe, instead being adopted from the outsider people known as the Ahwit that had been brought into the collective when some of their members had broken away. Since this break and subsequent adoption, the name has been continually passed on from the original owner, a sort of title and identity that simply is granted to a hunter of that line. Thus while there have been several called Urdash, there has only ever been one at any time, with each adopting the name until they bestow it upon another or pass on to the world of spirits. Limited only to those related by blood,

The name Urdash has developed its own mythos about the powers it has, such as the rumor of tricking the beasts of the land and their spirits into thinking there is no purpose in killing the Urdash as the ancestors will return them to life; to those who have received the name, these superstitions and myths are critical in retaining who the Ahwit were as a people. Few of their customs were brought with them, but the process of naming and its spiritual significance has survived.

Role:
Hunter

The Ahwit survive even now within their new home as a band of hunters, man and woman alike. Few are their number, they supplement what was already well established and largely keep to themselves, often willing to take upon their cult the more menial tasks when collaborating as a whole so that they might continue to retain some of their autonomy. The Urdash, despite being a particularly important figure, retains no real authority over the rest, perhaps at most being sought out as the in between of master of the hunt and shaman; someone who has been granted by the spirits gifts from both but obligated to use them in an unusual manner. This has made the Ahwit a complicated company to associate with, as their difference is expected and allowed, but not all feel that one can be somewhere between so many different identities.

Thus, more often than not, the Urdash deals only with the Ahwit in the dabbling of medicine, invocation or animism rather than the rest of the tribe who rightfully view them as a separate cult. As a whole to all others, the Urdash is any other hunter and differs to the tribal leader or the chief hunter.

Age:
25

Appearance:
As with most Ahwit, Urdash wears his hair long and predominantly free whilst accompanying his face with a full beard, a few braids among them made to symbolize how many successes in the hunt were had. Of the rough hide clothing he wears, the thickest portion over the chest is made up of mammoth fur, accented by crude boots and bracers of the same material. The rest being loose, thin deerskin draped underneath and no longer than down to the navel, met by pants consisting of the rest of that animal's hide. A furred hood covers much of Urdash's face and is drawn up from behind the shoulders to help keep the sun from the eyes and protect against the elements whilst also being decorated with subtle ornamentation like that of a few gifted feathers.

The Ahwit themselves are pale compared to other humans, preferring to keep themselves concealed by means of their dress and penchant for furs, but outwardly they are obvious relatives to Homo neanderthalensis whom their people must have interbred with for a time in the past. Owing to this, Urdash has somewhat stout legs, a larger build, distinct brow, and a pronounced cranium, making him slightly more unusual among the normal members of the tribe.

Gender:
Male

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Story:
Urdash and the Ahwit have been outsiders for a few generations but have integrated themselves closely enough with the host tribe that there is a more mutual understanding of their purpose. Providing hunters and gatherers, Urdash was any other child to have served into adolescence handling the smaller beasts - those of which the men and Ahwit women would not busy themselves with on their actual hunts - but found himself so named by the passing Urdash for no reason he then could define. Now suddenly promoted beyond his station, it became a matter of learning for himself what the men and women of his people were to actually do. A student to this, he gained proficiency to become an accepted "hunter", but not long before the elder Ahwit took him away to mentor him in the basics of what his name too meant.

Cultivating an understanding of primitive medicine was no small task, as was it no easy one to be taught the entire story of his name and what it must live on and up to; the perpetuation of the myth, provided the spirits were willing. Rightfully overwhelmed, Urdash learned not by any exceptional rate or means, yet instead rather through a great trial and error up until he was well into his adulthood. By then, having not only survived the dangers of the world outside the camp but having been initiated into the secret practices of the Ahwit's animism, the story had already begun to play out for him.

Now the actual Urdash, he is a man who is part hunter, part healer, part adviser, and more importantly the mediary between all three of them in the Ahwit; the one who they look to first for understanding in that very moment.

Personality:
Urdash is not a hardened man, instead of a more jovial and light soul. He has never experienced conflict like that of man against man, the same that drove the Ahwit from Nhuit some generations ago, thus all he can claim to understand are the ways of the world. For Urdash, like the others before him, all things are interconnected and must be understood as a whole, requiring him to ask a great number of questions and truly understand the people around him. No longer being shy because of this, Urdash is not unfamiliar to interacting with the tribe at large, which is seldom to occur with the largely introverted Ahwit.

Glory:
Despite being the Urdash, the man has no real claim to fame. Some say he is many spirits in one, granted many gifts because of this, but because the Ahwit are careful to keep their culture and beliefs far from prying eyes, just how he manages what he does is a mystery. As such, when the Urdash brings back one of his wounded huntsmen he has treated and their party still manages a kill, none bat an eye and they simply say, "See how the land provides for the Urdash? The hunt was good, so no one was lost."

Skills:
As a man who is tasked with three principals of character, the hunter, the healer and the holy, Urdash is a surprisingly skilled member in these trades. Not one superior to any master of them, but in his diversity he has great strength. Ahwit hunters look to him for the blessings before and after their undertaking, just as they expect him to drive the prey to their spears or to heal their wounds sustained in the process. What he lacks is experience beyond these.

[Lady Selune]

@Irredeemable

Diastan

Name: Diatsan

Role: Tribesmember

Age: 22

Appearance: Despite being one of the shorter members of the tribe, this does not mean that Diatsan is someone to underestimate. She has copper red hair and fair skin, and as most women in the tribe, no really large or distinct scars. She wears a undershirt and trousers made from the hide of a great elk, and boots made from wooden pieces with fur strapped over them and inside them. She also has a thick hood, rimmed with wolf fur and made waterproof.

She has a carrying sack for her child made from thick mammoth fur, which she can attach to her back and make sure her child is safe inside. The pack also has a hood on it, so in the event that they must travel through a snow or windstorm, she can pull that over to keep her safe.
In deep snow, she has a pair of skis made from crudly fashioned wood, and bound with rope she made herself. They are fairly light, which allows her to carry them around without too many concerns, and it’s far better than trying to slog through thick snow.
Gender: Female

NPCs:
Tiryot: Her four moon old daughter. She’s extremely protective of her, and almost never lets the little girl out of her sight. She does take excellent care of her though, so whilst some wish she would be less aggressive, few fault her.

Minyot: Named after her first child, Minyot is a small wildcat that she has tamed. It’s surprisingly apathetic to being poked and prodded by children, and so most adults are fine to leave Diastan and Minyot alone with the tribe’s children.

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Biography
Story: Thoroughly uninteresting. Her mother was in the tribe, so was her father, and so on, as far back as anyone cares to remember. She’s no stranger to the tribe and its customs, much as the same is true in reverse. She was taught by her mother how to do all sorts of tasks that were needed, but her attitude and size has meant that more and more she takes care of the children of the tribe.

In fact, the only part of her story that most people tend to skim over is that of her first child- Minyot. She had gone through an extremely trying pregnancy, and many had worried that she would die when she gave birth. She defied the odds and lived, however her child passed away two days later.

She was devastated- utterly inconsolable for almost an entire winter, and it wasn’t until the shaman began talking to her regularly that she finally began to come out of her shell.

Personality: Absolutely devoted to her children, to the point where she almost unreasonably aggressive. Her small size belies a strength, and nobody really likes to tangle with her if they can help her. When not angry, she’s quite an agreeable person, and is so good with children that she’s become the tribe’s de-facto babysitter in most cases.

Glory: None

Skills: Her mother taught her well. She’s a capable flintknapper, sewer, weaver and butcherer. She also knows how to start a fire, and has grown to have a sort of ‘sixth sense’ when it comes to babies and young children, especially when they’re liable to be getting themselves into danger.