Dawn of history

[Aux-Ash]

Were one to ask any living person of the age if anything had changed they would likely have said no. Life continued on as it always had. Their parents had lived the same life. They live the same life. Their children will live the same life. Nothing would ever change.

But that was no true. Things had changed. Slowly, but steadily, over thousands of years. Slowly but steadily yields have gotten smaller, but also slightly easier to collect. The population is growing larger. Hunting is becoming ever so slightly more difficult. Invisible to the eyes of the living, but true nonetheless. A time of great change was approaching, though no one living would ever be able to predict it and likely… notice.

Ilerians

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It’s been dozens of generations since you people swam ashore in this river-delta. Life has been comfortable enough, enough that your people have thrived and multiplied. It’s a fairly rich region and eventually the need to move across the shores and into the ocean was gone. It was simple enough to simply remain.

Your lands are marshy but hot and humid, just like you like them. It’s easy to find a personal little lake close to the river where the females can grow fat and happy, and the river is vast and sprawling.

There’s lots to eat: plenty of small fish, small crabs, there’s a kind of grass that grows in the wetlands with a particularly tasty seed that’s easy to harvest during the dry period as well as a nice green plant with seedpods that are very filling.

In the dryer areas there’s also this nifty berry that grows on a vine. They’re fairly big and the shell is hard, but the flesh is nice and juicy and after you’re done the shell can be dried for a nice bowl.

In addition for the braver hunters, there’s landbased animals: A bird that can swim and flies poorly, but their eggs are delicious for the one that finds the nests. There are also small packs of scavengers that skulk around your settlements at night, eating trash. Further up north there’s a much bigger animal as well, a big slow grazer that lives in large flocks. They have horns and can be quite dangerous if you anger them.

Neighbouring lands:
To the south and southwest, you have the vast ocean. Home to many different kinds of delicious fish and shellfish. There’s shark too and the currents are strong, so it’s not completely safe but a competent swimmer could feed his family well. The Southeast and north are marshes much like these. But to the Northeast leads the river through dryer lands where the trees are taller. There’s not many lakes there.

Axolo

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Generations ago, your people fled the increasingly dry climate above and wandered down into this chasm to a vast world like you had never imagined. It’s a rich forest that has grown alongside the walls and over the ramp down, where there still is sunlight. Warm dry air from above mix with the humid air from below leading to a fairly nice area.

It is dominated around huge vines that grow towards the light and that form the centre of life down here. On them grow all manner of funghi and mosses and they provide home for many insects (some quite juicy and fatty), birds and bats. The floor is covered by hard stalks, but if you break them open the insides are nice and juicy.

Ever season large birds come migrating down to nest straight on the rock, forming huge colonies. These birds feed on a vast field down here on vast fields of a plant that opens its seed pods during this time of years, creating huge fields of luminescent seeds attracting the hungry lovesick birds. These seeds also feed your people, as well as a large rodent, a large flightless bird that wanders in flocks and huge groups of eyeless birds and bats coming in from the dark.

There’s predators too of course. There’s a slow crawling thing that skulk near the ground, covered in armour and keeps low, until prey lands nearby when it launches with its pincers and catches them. There’s also both a bird and large creature that hunts by mimicking the luminescent seeds, attracting the hungry and brave. The bird then hides the light and strike in the dark, whereas the creature wait for them to try to grab the light before it snaps it’s huge toothed jaws around them. There are also small packs of scavengers that skulk around your settlements at night, eating trash. You think they followed your people down here.

Surrounding lands
In every direction, you simply move farther from the light. Away from the huge vines but into the lands of the luminescent and the strongly smelling plants. The forest become sparser, but there’s still plenty food to find. But it is darker.
It’s also possibly to climb up, but the lands there are harsh and dry.

Dynol

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In the junction between the vast plains and the huge forests your people found themselves a home. In the forests to the north, there are trees with fat and nice fruit and nuts. Allthough the nuts can be bitter and make you ill if you eat too many.
Further south, the lands have this grass that when it dries in the summer you can gather the seeds and eat them. There are flocks of this animal covered in a thick, fluffy and soft fur that comes down from the hills in the southwest every now and then. There are also small packs of scavengers that skulk around your settlements at night, eating trash. They’re not too much trouble, but can threaten children if one is not careful.

Surrounding lands
To the south and southeast the vast plains spread out. To the north, northeast and northwest the forest stretches as far as one can imagine. The southwest rises into steep hills.

Wood elves

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Season come and seasons go, but your people remains. It has always been thus. Living here on the north side of the mighty river, among leaf and conifer trees and feeding of what the land provides. In the ground you can find these nice rich tubers and are very filling and tasty, and combined with the rich fruits and berries of the forest it provides quite the meal. The river is rich with jumping fish during certain seasons and along it grows these long rich and fatty seed pods.

There’s plenty prey for the hunters as well, this large grunting creatures that eat whatever it comes across (though it does not hunt) and have a knack for smelling the tubers and unearthing them. There are also small packs of scavengers that skulk around your settlements at night, eating trash.

Surrounding lands:
The north, northwest and northeast are all covered by the forest. It’s slightly colder though. To the southeast and the south you have vast plains and to the southwest a deep and foul-smelling bog.

Lycans

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These lands smell nice, they are nice and cool. You have the shade of the forest in the south and nice vast plains to the north. Plenty of animals to hunt, and the days hunting does not go so well there’s other things to east as well. In the forests to the south, there are trees with fat and nice fruit and nuts. Allthough the nuts can be bitter and make you ill if you eat too many. To the north, the lands have this grass that when it dries in the summer you can gather the seeds and eat them.

The great price of the lands to the north are the vast herds of grazers, but they are many, strong and have sharp horns. They can feed an entire collection of packs, but hunting them is not trivial. For the slightly less brave, there’s also a small flightless bird in the forest. Not glorious perhaps, but food is food. There’s this scavenger that skulks around your camps at night, bearing a vague resemblance to your people superficially and though they do occasionally hunt… mostly they just eat your trash. So the similarities ends there.

Surrounding lands:
To the north you have vast plains. To the northeast the forest expands, but sparser. To your northwest you have steep foothills, and mountains towering behind them. South, southwest and southeast are all covered by the great forest.

Kyler’s folk

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Generations ago, your people wandered down into this chasm to a vast world like you had never imagined. It’s a rich forest that has grown alongside the walls and over the ramp down, where there still is sunlight. Warm dry air from above mix with the humid air from below leading to a fairly nice area.

It is dominated around huge vines that grow towards the light and that form the centre of life down here. On them grow all manner of funghi and mosses and they provide home for many insects (some quite juicy and fatty), birds and bats. The floor is covered by hard stalks, but if you break them open the insides are nice and juicy.

Ever season large birds come migrating down to nest straight on the rock, forming huge colonies. These birds feed on a vast field down here on vast fields of a plant that opens its seed pods during this time of years, creating huge fields of luminescent seeds attracting the hungry lovesick birds. These seeds also feed your people, as well as a large rodent, a large flightless bird that wanders in flocks and huge groups of eyeless birds and bats coming in from the dark.

There’s predators too of course. There’s a slow crawling thing that skulk near the ground, covered in armour and keeps low, until prey lands nearby when it launches with its pincers and catches them. There’s also both a bird and large creature that hunts by mimicking the luminescent seeds, attracting the hungry and brave. The bird then hides the light and strike in the dark, whereas the creature wait for them to try to grab the light before it snaps it’s huge toothed jaws around them. There are also small packs of scavengers that skulk around your settlements at night, eating trash. You think they followed your people down here.

Surrounding lands
In every direction, you simply move farther from the light. Away from the huge vines but into the lands of the luminescent and the strongly smelling plants. The forest become sparser, but there’s still plenty food to find. But it is darker.
It’s also possibly to climb up, to vast mountainous lands where the peaks are covered in snow and where one mountain spews out smoke that you can see for miles.

Plainsfolk (orcs)

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These vast lands is a good home, with plenty to give for those that respect it. Mighty rivers, rolling plains and the massive backdrop of the mountains, all lands that shape the people that live on it. There are lots to eat as well. The plains are covered in a grass that ends in a large cluster of rich seeds, easy to gather and provides a nice basis to feed a family. Combine with the rich seedpods available and the nuts that you can find on small bushes and you got plenty to feed a band with.

And then there’s plenty of animals to hunt. Birds large and small. Wooly grazers that wander in herds, their hair is long and soft but their horns can be nasty if you don’t know how to deal with them. Not to mention the mighty grey ones, wandering across the land much like your own people but they are huge, strong and the tusks are nothing to sneer at.

There are also small packs of scavengers that skulk around your settlements at night, eating trash.

Surrounding lands:
To your north, south and west you have the mighty plains. The east is entirely dominated by the mighty mountains. The southwest are covered in a vast bog.

The Inuri

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The swamps have been your people’s home for as long as anyone can remember. They’re rich and verdant, as well as hot and humid. The large river to the north overflowing its banks every year to renew the land you live on. The trees are more than capable of handling it, as well as the droughts that happens in the extremely hot dry period.

The river is rich with fish and shellfish, and the murky waters of the swamp itself filled with various frogs, birds and shellfish. A skilled hunter knows to look under the roots of the mangroves to find the best catches.

A rich source of food is the various legumes that are about; their seeds are a particularly nourishing variety. In addition there’s a very tall variety of grass with a sweet and nourishing sap as well as a tree which grows large and wholesome fruit in clusters.

Apart from the fish, there’s also bigger prey to be had. There’s a large grazer with horns and a hump behind it’s neck that like to keep to the dryer areas of the swamps, travelling in large to huge herds and generally a rather dull and uninterested thing… quite happy just to keep munching grass.
There’s also a scavenger that skulks around your camps at night, mostly eating trash though occasionally hunting.

Surrounding lands:
To the north, on the other side of the river, and southeast the swamps extend further. But if you travel northeast or southeast upriver the ground becomes drier but the climate no less moist. To the south, away from the river the lands extend into great grasslands. The northeast is the ocean into which the river runs out.

[Percy]

A burly figure stood between the great vines looking up towards the great opening above his head and the light spewing forward through it. Kyler was still amazed that they survived the great trek across the great white mountains in relative safety. His great great grandfather chose to lead them across the great mountains to find new hunting grounds, full of more game, to compensate for their growing number.

Kyler's family had been leading the clan since anyone can remember, leadership being passed on from father to son. By a stroke of luck or favor of some superior force, when the fury of the mountains bore down on them, he thought they would certainly meet their end. But then his father found the opening that lead them to this great chasm, which was a paradise in the middle of a great frozen wasteland.

And now that his father had peacefully passed on, content that he had led his people peacefully and without any unfortunate events, Kyler had to take the lead. These were his people now, Kyler's folk! Looking at the men behind him waiting silently for orders he began:

"Rak, Thir, ye two start searching around, see if ye can find anything to plant and get something going there. Obad, Vorn, ye got do some taming, see if ye can get any of the wildlife to be docile enough for us ta use. Stay together, dunno what beasts lurk around 'ere, so be careful. I want ye alive, not dead. Now go and take care of yer selves brothers, if anything yell for help and run back to camp so we can deal with anyone who dares attack me dwarves."

Actions

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1 Population: Search for any potentially tamable wildlife to be used to start building up herds.
1 Population: Search for edible plants that can be cultivated and harvested for farming, in order to start stockpiling food.

[WrathOfLife]

Plainsfolk

The biggest Plainsfolk looked over the small tribe of people. Life was good in these lands, but all things come to an end. This was the way of life. All that is born must die, and all the dies brings life.

Still at the niggling corners of every plainsfolk mind was an idea, the idea that they could be more. Become greater. But only time would tell.

Actions?

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1 Population to begin studying farming, trying to move fruit trees, nut bushes and grasses closer to the settlements and organised for faster/easier pickings.
- Plainsfolk feel at one with nature, and start trying to bring it in closer to their dwellings. Soon clever Plainsfolk realise that food plants can be shifted and cared for making food easier to access. This idea starts to catch on and farming begins to be experimented with.
[STUDY IDEA FARMING/AGRICULTURE]

1 Population to begin gathering the Wooly grazers, breeding/harvesting/eating them, trying to keep a standing population of them near the settlement.
- These curious creatures interest the Plainsfolks greatly, herding them near their homes, they feed them grass, and grow them fat before slaughter. They engage in basic trade swapping Woolies for services, and breeding of the woolies quickly becomes a valued skill
[STUDY IDEA DOMESTICATION/LIVESTOCK/BREEDING]

Any excess population to harvest food to stockpiling.

[PMChapmanii]

The nature of life, the hopes of truth and growth. There is magic in the air as the trees get larger and life provides opportunity to learn at every corner. It all brings a sense of hope as the cover of the trees provides life. So the elves look around seeing the world with its many spices of life and begin to explore.

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One group is gathering the tubers. The other group studies the creature that can find the tubers, trying to smell the tubers them self. Spend resources as needed/able.

[LordChaos13]

OOC: Not sexist, but in those days it was this way, with Men hunting and Women gathering

"Right you lot, since you all decided to hang round me and bug me it means I'm in charge.
I want every man to the south, go look around the area see if you can gather some of those white things that eat the grass. They might taste nice and with the Lito already migrated away, taking our brothers with us we need a new source of food. Any ladies not with child or raising one get some of the lowlying fruit from the trees like before the others left. See if you can plant some around the camp too, if they grow quickly we might get a good source very close to us, so we can get more per day, no treking back and forth back and forth."
The new chief informs his splinter tribe, outside his well ornamented hut, his pride and joy

Actions:

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HG1: To the direct South
HG2: To the direct North

[chrisrawr]

Silent-dark. A shifting in the odd green landhair alerts Mmnas-v-Mneer - the hunt-plan is ready, all the Brood are in place.

A vibration rises behind the landviathans, startling the beasts from their halfsleep. As they raise on knobby knees to flee, they break hornlock for a few crucial seconds - their flanks exposed.

Crashes sound out, counterpoised to the harsh braying of the beasts. Eight Ilerians - half a hunting party - crash into the unguarded sides of a similar number of beasts. Flung from the ground by their brethren, they hold tight, stabbing repeatedly with their spears as they climb, seeking the spine of the beast.

As they reach the Landviathans' necks, they stab through the spine - practically the only way to stop them.

Three beasts go down. Four. Two of the launched Ilerians are forced to disengage their prey, horn-lock threatening to sweep them away. The remaining two - young hunters on their first launch, determined to prove themselves - hold on too long, and are crushed in the ensuing tangle of ivory.

It was a lesson the remaining young would not soon forget.



OOC:

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DM's Post Interpretation

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Abundant living space for now

Food by area:
Lakes/Rivers: Silvertails (Fish) and Snappers (Crabs)
Shores + Nearby: Landhair (Grass/Seed), Sweetpods (peas)
Drier areas: Large berry (Krakenberries), Dipper Eggs (bird eggs), Bogworts (scavengers), Landviathans (Large flock animal)
Oceans: Silvertails, Snappers, Grubbers (shellfish)

Resources: Krakenberry shells, Horns, Bones + Hides (various animals)

Traits

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Food Surplus: No surplus
Population: 2 Hunter/Gatherers
Resources: No resources
Ideas:No ideas
Monuments: No monuments

Actions

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Hunters 1 and Hunters 2 both attack a herd of Landviathans for food. 2 Hunters are lost, 4 Landviathans are downed.

If we're allowed to flesh out some of the fauna ourselves: Landviathans are similar to antlered elephants in size. They sleep and move in a formation called "hornlock", where their intricate antlers array from all sides to dissuade both aerial and land-based predators.

Only when feeding and in duress does hornlock break - momentarily allowing skilled hunters to slip through their defenses.

Their natural predators, therefore, are parasitic in nature. Many bloodsucking rodents take up nest in their horns, being sure to carry their children so as to not have them crushed in the shifting tangle.

Ilerians have developed a risky maneuver involving an elaborate trap. If the setup alerts the Landviathan herd, there is the risk of losing many huntbrood to the ensuing stampede - but the payoff is many nights without hunger.

[shadowxknight]

Lycans

Once, the Lycans ruled the forest. With their superior strength and agility, they wiped out all competition and became the apex predator. Sadly, this led to overpopulation and depleted hunting grounds. Hunger led to short tempers, and a period of savage civil war soon followed.

That has been over two generations ago. The Lycans has since then been a nomadic people, moving to where the food is. Finally, they have arrived on the great plains, where their future awaits.

Actions

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1 population: hunt the forest for food
1 population: explore the plains to the north

[D20ragon]

Kula was afraid. Joyful, as well that her father had permitted her to come on this journey down the Great Serpent, the river that would bring her family to a new home, but fearful as well. She was only 9 floods old, and when her father had announced she could come on the journey the Puka, the chief, had decreed her family must undertake, she had wept with joy, her pale green skin mottled with tears. But now she was less sure. What if a monster came? She had heard of monsters, like the crabs that she cracked and ate, but much larger, with tendrils like a mangrove root. What if they came and ate her? She snuggled closer to Zamka, her lynx, buried her face in his fur, and finally slept.






I'm not sure, Lembo said doubtfully. Are you sure it's not cursed?

Of course not, silly!, Lian said, her eyes flashing excitement in pale blue pulses.
Look, it bends if you hit it hard enough.
Sure enough, the small lump of material, grayish green in color, bent under the heavy rock Lian pounded it with.
Oh! A spark!

I told you so, Lembo said.

Oh shut your mouth, said Lian, laughing.
look, we'll bring it back to the Puka, and see what she thinks it is.
They left the hole they had been digging, Lian proudly bearing the lump of metal back into the village.

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A Hunter and a Gatherer pop are going downriver to the sea. Meanwhile, a Gatherer pop, (Lembo and Lian), have found a strange material... You start with 2 hunter and 2 gatherer right?

[BurningBramble]

Saurian amphibians live their lives in the underworld's entrance, penned in for now by their fear of both the true darkness and the deadly dryness of the world above. Every once in a while, a lone, brave hunter or foolish youth would find some passion or other to charge into the lightless world, but always they would return far too soon, having learned nothing, and unwilling to return. Or they wouldn't, and the rest would sing songs declaring that they had been devoured by strange beasts, or else had been changed by their experience in the dark and decided not to return, descending to the level of beasts or else living for ever in the Paradise of the cool and damp.

All folklore, but they made for lovely songs. Most of the Axolo were content with the visibility, water, and food of the place, which they called Limbo. It had its dangers and hardships, but they bore them with perpetual, rubbery grins and a language that sounded like singing and laughter.

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One population unit is working the luminous seeds, and I'm guessing occasionally falling prey to the predators that mimic them? Vast fields of a seasonal crop, seems like an obvious choice for a future of agriculture. Upgrading to "neolithic" should probably be a priority. I feel it best to wait until we see if there are any other special traits of these things before I decide on the Axolo's name for them.

The other is hunting the crawling, armored predators as a food source. Is that foolish? Perhaps, but I'm curious to explore the possibility of domestication/ecosystem manipulation (cave druids? ), which means making sure we learn more about any potential prospects. Again I think I'll forego naming them until the update.

I'm happy with the name "Limbo" for our starting point, though. Trapped between the Hell above their forefathers fled and the Paradise below that they're still too scared to enter.

[Aux-Ash]

Turn 2

Sometimes, when someone suffers a crippling disease or severa trauma, they come back changed. Not just physically, but mentally. They have insights that they should not have, their mannerisms and quirks have been replaced. They're not longer who they were.

For the most part, people shy away from such people in fear. They aren't cast out of bands and tribes, merely people keep some distance. At least until they recover. Sometimes however they do not recover.

Perhaps because they've developed a kinship with that which caused the accident? They can communicate with the foul spirits of disease? Can ward of accidents. They become advisors and keepers of medicine. The peope you ask how the sun moves across the skies.

These changed people, these mystics, have an understanding we ordinary people do not.

Kyler’s folk

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Your people is slowly learning to get used to the life down here. The chief difficulty is the darkness, which makes it difficult to travel far away from the forest in which they live. The trials of the great trek stay in living memory though and the need to stockpile become an omnipresent guideline.

Following the orders originally laid down by Kyler your people have developed something of a knack for catching the large rodents roaming the forest. They seem to be living in something akin to colonies nested inside the roots of the gigantic vines that reach for the upper world. Consisting of mostly females and young things, the larger males usually leave the colonies once old enough and then visit them during mating season.

Another skill your people have developed is the gathering of the glowing seedpods that the birds prey on. There have been some losses due to your people, like the birds, being attracted to the light of the large predators. A particularly useful trick has been to learn when the seed is almost ripe and thus collect it before the seedpod opens and attracts the birds. Which has proven immensely valuable.

In addition, to assist in the collecting of the seeds your people have managed to figure out that you can use the stalks of the glowing fruit to bind baskets in which you can keep the seeds.

Results

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As long as you hunt the rodents you will have access to Bone, Sinew and Skins. In addition they’re worth 1 additional Food Surplus when worked.
The glowing seeds also provide 1 additional Food Surplus when worked.
In total you have gained 4 Food Surplus this turn.
You have gained the following techs:
Rodents 1
Glowing fruit 1
Basketweaving 1
Mysticism 1

Plainsfolk

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Your people have focused on trying to understand the land around them, trying to be the masters of their environment. They’ve enthusiastically tried to get both the priced prey, the Woolies, to live closer and to get the Seedcrowns to grow near the settlement. Though success has been fairly limited.

Occasionally the seedcrowns to sprout near settlements and former settlement, though the magic that determines this is yet to be fully understood. Similarly, the Woolies can be lured to live closer to encampments and though they’re fairly docile in general the males can be quite dangerous if you agitate the herds too much. Which puts a limit to how close to children they can be at this point.

The summers are long and dry, many smaller lakes and creeks completely dries up. The river would dry but during this period it instead rises higher than before and with greater intensity. As if it is fighting back against the harsh skies. But once the rains begin it rains without end for day, the river recedes slightly though. As if relaxing after the great effort.

Results

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You have gained 2 Food Surplus this turn due to the automatic gains from your Hunter&Gatherer pops.
You have gained the techs:
Woolies 1 +1 progress to the next level.
Seedcrown 1 +1 progress to the next level
Mysticism 1

Wood elves

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As time progresses your people learn to be a part of your environment so much better. The most notable skill is how, thanks to studying the large grunting tusked animals, to find the largest and most succulent tubers. The pale beige ones with yellow flesh ones that require several people to pull out of the pits. They cannot quite smell them, like the grunting ones can, but they have learned what signs to look out for.

This has brought much wealth and prosperity to your people. It’s hard work, but often very rewarding. If one is particularly lucky, it can feed a large family for days.

These tubers are connected through vines that can be woven into baskets that significantly simplify all manner of gathering.

The winters are harsh, but nothing that you cannot handle, bringing lots of snow along which stays for some time. The summers, by comparison are warm and lush. They begin with long and lifebringing rains, but after that become increasingly dry until autumn comes. Forestfires are not unheard of, but not common enough to be a nuisance.

Results

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As long as you work these tubers you will earn one additional Food Surplus
In total, you have earned 3 Food Surplus this turn.
You have also gained the following ideas:
Tubers 1 +1 progress to the next level.
Grunting creatures 1.
Basketweaving 1
Mysticism 1

Dynol

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Splitting up, your people undergo a great trek to the north and south. Trying to see if the new lands can provide them with great bounties.

The forests to the north are much cooler than the plains, and filled with all manner of deer, rodents, birds and other animals. The woolen grazers are few in numbers here. However, there is a feral cousin on the scavengers living these woods. It’s a predator that lives in packs and hunt mostly the deer, but unlike the scavengers (who still seem to follow your people) they’re very dangerous. It is particularly rich in nuts, roots, tubers and fruit though. Though it takes effort to collect because they’re often far in between.

The southern lands open up into vast plains by comparison. The woolen grazers are joined by large herds of a considerably larger beast that roam the lands and eating grass. Like their woolen counterparts they seem largely dozile, though they can easily crush an unwary hunter under their hooves when they panic. Which they easily do.
The yellow grass also covers many areas of this land, providing good grazing for the animals and easily collected food for you. Sadly, most of the nuts and fruit seemed limited to the forests in the north.

Results

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You have gained 2 Food Surplus this turn thanks to the automatic gains.
You have discovered two new lands as well. One plains and one forest. The plains has a new type of animal and the forest is richer in fruits, herbs and nuts than the starting forest hex.
You have gained the following ideas:
Mysticism 1.

Ilerians

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OOC: Debated this with myself for a long time, but I decided to agree to your interpretation of the Landviathans. Originally they were in fact water buffalo, but I really like your idea and decided to go with it. They’re smaller though. Not quite elephants, but more like buffalo in size.

IC: As seasons come and go, your people learn how to better master the large Landviathans. They’re dangerous beasts, but as techniques improve the casualties sustained during hunts are greatly diminished. A new and interesting trick is to trap the large beasts with their own antlers, chasing the panicked beasts into thick vegetation and ensuring they entangle themselves into the branches and undergrowth. Making them easy prey for the hunters.

The great beasts graze closer to the swamps of your people during the wet-season, when the heavens open up and provide their rich rains. But then they migrate northward as the dry period comes. This makes hunting considerably more difficult, but it is very rewarding during the rain period.

Results

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As long as you work Landviathan you have access to Skins, Sinew and Ivory, in addition you will receive 1 additional Food Surplus
This turn you receive 4 Food surplus in total.
You have gained the following ideas:
Landviathan 1.
Mysticism 1.

Lycans

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Your people have particular good luck hunting a flightless bird that roam this part. Well… they’re not so much flightless as poor fliers. They’re not entirely easy to find, having rather good camouflage but with your sense of smell and learning they prove not too difficult to find. They also lay plenty of eggs that provide an excellent supplemental source of food.

The plains to the north lack the cover of the forest, but make up for it with the great prey. The huge herds of grazers. Once startled the grazers will all start a stampede in a certain direction, forcing you to pick off outlying ones or risk being crushed. However, the lands are also rich in a type of grass that ends in a seedpod with nourishing seeds in them. These stalks dry in the summer and late autumn and become a potential rich source of food.

The plains are colder than the forest, the summer is slightly shorter and the winter slightly longer. The late spring are signaled by huge rainfall and most life is waiting for them before truly springing into bloom. These rains are considerably more extensive in the plains than in the forest.

Results

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As long as you work Flightless Bird you will have access to Eggs and Feathers. You will also receive 1 additional Food Surplus.
Thus you earn 3 Food Surplus in total this turn.
You have explored the lands to the north, in them you have access to Horned Grazers and Dry Grass.
You have also gained the following ideas:
Flightless bird 1
Mysticism 1

Inuri

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The shores are a rich source of food. Much fish and crab live just outside the edge of the mangrove forests, and among its roots. There are also plenty of sites for good camps, secluded from the massive storms that come in autumn and high enough that the rising off the river in spring won’t trouble you. It’s slightly cooler than the rest of your homelands as well.

The strange material originally found by Lembo and Lian was a source of much wonder and excitement. Sadly, you people have been unable to procure anything more. However, it proved not to be a complete waste as searching for more uncovered large deposits of flint nearby. As such, your people have since then developed a technique that produces tools that are clearly superior to those of your ancestors.

Results

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Since you do not need a full action for moving to the shore, I interpret this as an ”Work Fish” action. Which provides you with 1 additional Food Surplus.
You therefore produce 3 Food Surplus this turn.
In addition you gain the following ideas:
Knapping 1. (The stonetool skill)
Mysticism 1.
Fishing 1.

Axolo

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Gathering the luminous seed prove to be a rewarding endeavour, as they provide a rich bounty when they are in season. Initially some of your people fall prey to the deceiving hunters and frequently the songbirds of the large vines come first. But after some time, they learn and adapt. Developing tricks to tell the seeds from the predators and learning to collect the seeds before the pods open, thus gathering them before the birds are attracted by the light. The large leaves protecting the unripe seeds also prove to be a good material to fold into baskets.

The chitinous predators that skulk the land are not the quickest, instead relying on their massive pincers and their hard shell to protect them. Initially they proved to be difficult, but your people quickly learned to overcome those problems by jabbing a spear where the plates overlap in the neck. A weak spot. They’re still not the easiest to hunt however, due to being solitary predators. But they’re easy to lure with some bait, even the remainders of the luminous seeds as they tend to eat anything they come across.

Results

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By working the luminous seeds you gain an additional Food Surplus.
By working the pincer-crawling things you gain access to Chitin, sadly their solitary nature does not mean they’re a good source of food.
Therefore you earn 3 Food Surplus in total this turn.
In addition you gain the ideas:
Luminous plant 1.
Pincer-crawling thing 1.
Basketweaving 1.
Mysticism 1.

[BurningBramble]

Learning to distinguish between the Luminous Seeds and the predators that mimic them has put a certain zealous ambition in them, that they should make a claim on these fields. Those who have learned to make the distinction turn on the anglers, preparing their own ambush.

The hunters turn their attention from the chitinous snappers, though they are popular among the children, who are fascinated by songs of crawling beasts whose skins turn away weapons, even making toys of it for their games. They simply cannot harvest enough meat from the creatures to make the hunts worthwhile. Instead, they venture closer to the darker caves, their sights on the swarm-flocks of blind birds.

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"Luminous Seed" works just fine as a descriptive name for the seeds, I think. I'll call the chitinous predators "Snappers" for now. (Am I right to think of them as something like enormous crabs?) For the moment, poking at different things in our environment to learn more about them sounds like a good strategy.

One population unit is hunting the large predators that mimic the Luminous Seeds. Aside from being a potential danger to our people, I'm both curious and paranoid about anything pulling the anglerfish trick. Maybe we can start taking notes about its hunting methods...

With that in mind, the other group is hunting the eyeless birds that flock in from the caves. Perhaps they will provide a hint or two about life in the depths before we finally venture down?

[WrathOfLife]

Plainsfolk

The circle of life is a strange thing, Hugrug decided. He was one of the Plainsfolk who had been trying to understand the seedcrowns. Water comes, water goes. Is like life. Hugrug decided. Life doesn't go, just comes in different form. Hugrug decides this must be what was happening with the water. He wondered if this had further implications.

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Attempts at making the woolies friendlier seem to be working, but only sometimes. Plainsfolk are simple folk, simple, but persistent. They set about finding the most aggressive woolies and killing them off, for food. Trying to teach the woolies that being friendly is good for them. They also spend long hours watching the woolies trying to understand what motivates them and how to work with them as friends.
[STUDY IDEA: Woolies/Husbandry]

The seedcrowns inability to always survive frustrates the plainsfolk. This caused them to turn to the Woolies for food as a more reliable source of food. With the aggressive Woolies being killed off, the Plainsfolk leave nothing to waste and quickly make use of this plentiful food source.
[Work Resource: Woolies]

[All Food Surplus to be spent on the study of woolies]

[PMChapmanii]

As the tribe of Fëanáro Tîwele are about to pull out a big tuber they smell something and are surprised by the rush of living creatures running past them. Looking they see it, big and glowing with the heat of the sun. One of the people stayed to look at the interesting groundsun as the others ran for there life, hearing the screams of pain by the one who stayed behind.

After all was safe the tribe went back to the tuber they had found so that they could pick it out of the earth. The lush green had changed to a black which clung to all that touched it, yet the person was still there. Also black and clinging.

As time went on the story was told through time and it was noticed that the forest had not died but been born anew. Yet there was no renewal of the person who died, or was there? With plenty of food a group sets out to understand the power of the forest and just what this might mean.

Math

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Group 1 continues gathering tubers (to total 4 FS gained this turn)
Group 2 studies mystisisem, focusing on the power of the forest to still live with 'groundsun' (fire) or was the person also touched by the 'groundsun' also brought to life again? So many questions.

Advancing
paying 3 food to improve tubers to lv 2

[LordChaos13]

The giant lands claimed by the stationary tribe fill the horizon and beyond.
From the berry-rich forests filled with savage scavangers, to the wide plains with the Cig Bewlog

The small village growing even more, built in a ring around the Central Bonfire and the Prime Hut
The central bonfire roaring every hour of the day, cooked food and uncooked meat awaiting cooking in two piles next to it, for the community to grab what they need to survive
Right next to the bonfire is the Prime Hut, a vast well-decorated structure with more additions and restructuring than any building before it. The Chief's immediate family (parents, kids and mate) in residence.

In the forests and the plains small colonies were set up, people moving in and out every week, hunting the whole week and returning to their family. Only to repeat it the next rotation.
Spartan impersonal huts they started as, but it seemed every hunter added their own flair and soon they became more decorated than the main huts, if in a dozen different ways at the same time.

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Cool what triggered Mystics? And what does having it give me?

I'm Working the Plains and Forest I just moved the HG into.
Is it possible next time I get a pop to build Nut-bearing trees in my home tile?
And head towards Roads so I'm not spending 7 generations moving from one tile to the next.

How big are each hex anyway? Cause I thought it was like a days walk from on hex border to the other, maybe a couple days if it was rough terrain or something.

[chrisrawr]

BzNidrev the Horned-Greatfather is approaching his end-times, his spawn gathering to pay their respects - or, perhaps, to glean some small portion of his favour.

There are few in the surrounding lakes that can claim his age or prowess - in his youth, he was BzNidrev, the Swift-And-Mighty. Many predators threatened his spawning pool, a new expanse with a young broodmother. His sire died foolishly, grasping for more than his tentacles could hold.

Even in his shriveled age his plates shone from frequent care; his tentacles held him aloft with a coiled power; his eyes darted to all the depths of the pool, to every spawn and sirelet that could threaten his breeding grounds.

He gestured, when the assembled had settled, and the broodmother held him aloft - reverently, as he is her finest creation. He pointed North, to the drylands, where he would make his final journey - a dry and dusty climb to raid the mountain-nests of the rocs and griffons that preyed upon them.

It was the right of any great warrior, in their end-times, to challenge that-which-rises-above-all-else, to conquer its peaks and destroy the enemies within. Many spawnlings dream of accomplishing such a feat. but reality and pragmatism soon overcome childish desire.

Not for BzNidrev. He would follow a hunting party out to the plains of the Landviathan, and from there, migrate North amongst them - using them as both transport and protection.

The bones of warriors past would litter his ascension - and his would soon be first amongst them.





OOC:

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DM's Post Interpretation

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Abundant living space for now

Food by area:
Lakes/Rivers: Silvertails (Fish) and Snappers (Crabs)
Shores + Nearby: Landhair (Grass/Seed), Sweetpods (peas)
Drier areas: Large berry (Krakenberries), Dipper Eggs (bird eggs), Bogworts (scavengers), Landviathans (Large flock animal)
Oceans: Silvertails, Snappers, Grubbers (shellfish)

Possible Resources Nearby: Krakenberry shells, Horns, Bones + Hides (various animals)

Traits

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Food Surplus: 4 Surplus
Population: 2 Hunter/Gatherers
Resources: Skin, Sinew, Ivory (Landviathan)
Ideas: Landviathan 1, Mysticism 1
Monuments: No monuments

Actions

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As much breeding as possible. I'm unclear as to how breeding works. I'll ask in the OOC thread as well.

Hunters 1 and Hunters 2 both continue hunting Landviathans using the improved method.

[shadowxknight]

The Lycans has always been ferocious hunters. With their combination of speed, strength, and camouflage, few prey has a chance of slipping away. A reoccurring cycle for them has been overhunting their habitat as their population steadily grows.

That is about to change. These woolly grazers reminded the Lycans of themselves. The pack sticks together and the weak ones are left out. Instead of hunting these kindred spirits to extinction, the Lycans have decided to enter a symbiotic relationship with them. Lycans will offer protection to these grazers while only feeding upon the weak ones in their pack. This way, the grazers pack will continue to grow stronger while the Lycans receive a constant, renewable source of food.

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1 population herd the grazers, keeping them in a select area and hunting down the ones that can't stay with the pack
1 population explore the lands to the west
Convert all food surplus to population growth.

[Aux-Ash]

Turn 3
Progress is both tangible and yet it isn’t. Life moves in its own quiet pace. And yet, it’s easy to see that a generation or two ago things were different. A certain predator more prevalent. A campsite better adapted to life. Prey more or less abundant.

It changes, but not so quickly one can truly pinpoint when it began or concluded.

Axolo

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The anglers are truly an ingenious creation. They have luminous bulbs on their tounges that are sensitive, so they sit completely still with their massive jaws open and waits for prey to land on their tounges. Once they feel the tickling and creatures trying to sample the goodies they think they’ve found they snap their jaws shut with a force to break bone. Their jaws and teeth strong enough to even crush the shells of the crawling ones in one attempt.

They’re large beasts, easily almost as big as one of your people lying down. And despite lying still for hours at the time, they’re surprisingly quick. They have poor eyesight though, and are attracted to sound and light. Making them easy to ambush. Sadly, much like the crawlers these big predators are not the best prey. They’re large, but their flesh does not taste good. It’s stringy and lean and they’re few far between.

The bulbs continue shining for a few hours after their death however. Some of your people have experimented in using them as makeshift torches. The results are promising, if limited.

But where the large anglers make poor prey, the birds of the dark is all the better. They swarm in large flocks and make an ungodly cacophony wherever they fly. Quickly arriving at the scene of anything that smells like food, usually mere minutes after your people have finished up they arrive to eat everything that was missed, meat and fruit alike. They’re small and quick, but easy to trap or spear. Their nests aren’t difficult to find either as they form massive and noisy colonies.

Their feathers are fascinating though. Dark and dull near fire, but hold them near the luminous fruits or the bulbs of the anglers and they shimmer in beautiful oily patterns of transparent purple and green.

Results

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OOC: Yeah, crabs work. My work-name for them is “landlobster” if that’s any indication to how I see them.

Working Anglers gives you access to Luminous bulbs, Hides, Bone. The birds provide you with Bone, Feather and Eggs and 1 additional Food Surplus.
For a total of 3 Food Surplus this turn.

You also gain:
Eyeless bird 1
Angler 1

Plainsfolk

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Your people spend a lot of effort trying to understand how the Woolies work and killing the aggressive ones. Slowly but steadily the woolies are getting more and more accustomed to the presence of the plainsfolk. Their herds still wander where they please, but they’re more tolerant of the presence of the folk now. Not around their young though. During that period they clump together and protect their young inside the herds.

Most of the herds are females, following the eldest female in the group. There are usually a handful of strong males around, straying slightly behind the herd and competing for the right to mate. But others are simply chased out of the herd, becoming easy prey for your hunters.

Results

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Working Woolies gives you access to Bone, Wool, Sinew, Horn and 1 additional Food Surplus.
You thus earn 3 Food Surplus total this turn.

Your 5 Food Surplus (and a bonus of 1 for studying) is invested into Woolies, raising your level to 2 +4 towards next level.

Wood elves

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The seasonal groundsun is an interesting phenomena, it arrives with the dry southern winds that come when the sun is at its highest. Suddenly, a dry region of the forest catches fire and everything alive is destroyed in the blaze. Everything except the massive trees and the tubers that is. The trees have their bark scorched, but the ones that are tall enough survive the fire. And while the tubers’ vines all burn, they quickly shoot up new ones as the ash cools down.

It’s noticeable that areas ravaged by fire become extra fertile afterwards. Becoming much more lush and green than areas that were spared. In the same sense, the miraculous survival of the Groundsun changed the elf subjected to it. Perhaps fire provides rebirth?

Results

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Working the tubers provided 1 additional food surplus and gives access to Vines.
This gives you a total of 3 Food Surplus (2 from your pops and 1 from Tubers).

You cannot advance Tubers unless you study them, sadly. However, you have enough Food Surplus to raise Mysticism, which you do study, to 2 and 3 to spare (which you also can invest, giving you 3 credits towards lvl 3). If you instead wish to focus on the tubers, I can rewrite this post to reflect that instead.

Dynol

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The new lands are rich and bountiful, though the separation of your people over such a great distance is a constant source of stress. It becomes something of a test of adulthood to be able to undertake the journey between the plains and the colony. Taking a gift with you from one homeland to the other to prove your worth to your new family. The journey is a difficult one though, as the lands are vast and easy to lose oneself in. Sometimes, the young people do not make it. But more often than not they do.

The grazers in the southern lands become something of a favoured prey; though their fat swell off they provide succulent meat (particularly the young ones) and a warm thick pelt that makes excellent clothes and coverings. The larger beast is far more skittish and more difficult to hunt as they move over larger distances. So for now the smaller beast becomes the prey of choice.
A few brave hunters have also noticed that further south there’s this lizard creature that hunts the larger beasts in packs. Large and dangerous. But for most of your people little more than legend.

In the north, the less bitter variant of nuts have become slightly easier to gather. It’s not entirely clear why, but it’s a welcome change. It’s a very nourishing nut that you can both produce oil from, grind into flour or eat as they are. It quickly develops something that is present in every meal. It’s also noticeable as the bushes grow closer and closer to the camps with every year.

Results

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I am assuming that you work the Woolen grazers and the Bitter nuts in the respective zones. Let me know if this was not correct.
This gives you access to Wool, Bone, Sinew. Both resources also provide a bonus of 1 Food Surplus each.
Thus you produce 4 FS total, this turn. (you now have 6).
You also gain:
Woolen grazers 1
Bitter nuts 1.

Oh and about Roads. I suggets either taking a change the landscape approach or a tools of travelling approach (such as a travois) to reach them

Ilerians

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Your hunters are effective, certain years even too effective as you pick off more animals than survive the dry period. But there’s no sign of the Landviathans being depleted, the next year the flock rejuvenates and all is well again. Perhaps they’re like the tide? It rises and it falls?

But while the Landviathan’s numbers dwindle up and down, your people instead become far more numerous. More pools are claimed, more spawn are seen each year as their bellies can be filled. It’s a good life. The swamp is almost getting a little crowded now, you never have to travel far to find a new spawning pool.

Results

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Your hunting yields the same resources as before and 4 FS in total, bringing you up to 8.

With those 8, you purchase your 3rd population unit.

You thus end with 0 FS, but 3 Hunter&Gatherer population units.
The next population unit will cost 12.

Lycans

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You continue hunting the grazers, focusing on the old ones that cannot keep up though on occasion you have to take healthy ones or large aggressive males that go after your hunting packs instead. It’s a good life, though one that requires your people to move around a lot.

The hills to the west are much more difficult terrain, it takes much more effort to cross them than the plains or the forest as it constantly requires you to go up and down. There’s grazers here too, though slightly smaller in size. Probably because there’s not as much grazing to be had. The land is slightly sparser.

Further to the west massive mountains capped in snow towers above all. There’s mountains to the north as well. Though not nearly as tall. It is from these mountains that the cold winds of winter come from. Whereas the warm winds of spring come from the east and south.

These hills have another type of prey however, a considerable smaller grazer than the large herds of the plains (or their hill cousins). Small and woolen.

Results

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Working the Horned Grazers you gain access to Horn, Hide, Bone, Sinew and gain one additional Food Surplus.
Thus providing you with a total of 3 this turn.
The new region has a new type of animal, a small woolen grazer that lives in herds. Not nearly as migratory as the larger ones.
You also gain:
Horned Grazer 1.

In addition, you put down your 6 FS for population, you need 2 more to gain your third pop (if you wish, you may keep these 6 FS until you can afford the pop next turn, in case you change your mind).

[PMChapmanii]

With the news of groundsun posably bringing life, the tribe continues reserching mysticsism by looking at the cold cloud dert and what it does for the forest, finding it odd that the heat and cold do not seam to touch.

In the mean time the Idril Oronar tribe seams to be expereancing a boom of children being born. These children seam rather intrested in the storys about groundsun and seam to want to find a way to safely pass without getting reborn themself, perhaps learning much from seeing what is between death and life. maybe if they cover themselfs in tubers then they will not be changed, and able to see what happens in the midle of reberth.

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spending 6 food reserve and 2 gained this turn on increasing population.
population 1 continues gathering tubers
population 2 reserches the mystisism of the forest by focusing on the cloud durt (snow) and how it interacts with the groundsun (fire).
population 3 (if able to act this turn) reserches the posability of using the tubers to protect them from the fire so that they can see where the fire takes reborn elf's.

[BurningBramble]

The Axolo find themselves almost unnaturally fascinated with the birds, collecting their feathers after every catch, but it remains the habit of the young to hunt that which their mothers did not, that songs may b e sung in years to come of the first to kill some new beast. The mimic-predators are held in fear and reverence by those who forage, and tales of a similar creature, yet one that flies, are irresistible to young hunters.

Some of the elder members of the tribe are becoming concerned by what is seen as an ill omen- a filth-eating creature that is said to have followed their people from the hellish surface world. It becomes the habit of many to attack these creatures on sight.

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Rambling analysis and decision-making...

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Should have 8 food surplus next round, I believe? I'd like to preemptively spend it on our third population unit, if I may.

The Luminous Seeds are an obvious choice for agriculture, but I'm concerned that they may only being available in this Limbo between the caves and the surface world. Then again, I probably shouldn't be picky when the question is of how to advance to the Neolithic.

These Iridescent Birds are wonderful. In the distant future clothing incorporating their feathers could be an excellent fashion statement cultural mark when it comes time to interact with the surface-dwellers. A swarming food source that forms vast colony-nests sounds like a good candidate for farming.

The Anglers have got my attention. Crocodiles, almost? Inconvenient at best as potential hunting companions, but with their apparent status as apex predators it's still tempting to pursue that route. Guard animals, traps in warfare... but nothing pressing just yet.

The Landlobsters ("Snappers" was plainly premature) are for now more promising as a source of materials for early tool-making. Metal seems a long way off, and acquiring armor from this might mean a nice head start. As the food pyramid prevents either of these organisms from providing a food surplus, both will have to be lower priority in our tech tree.

Tempting to start studying the Iridescent Birds and Luminous Seeds immediately, but I'm still in the phase of exploring possibilities and getting a clear idea of the local environment, and so...

We'll have one population unit go after the the predatory birds that mimic the Luminous Seeds. That would appear to be the last of the major predators in this area, as far as we're aware? By now we understand that high-level predators are not likely to be numerous enough in the environment to be a practical food source, but this bird's hunting technique is a fascination, and it may be a... safer source of the luminous bulbs than the Anglers.

Besides which, the prospect of subterranean falconry with anglerfish-hawks is difficult to ignore.

The "small packs of scavengers" that followed us down here have had us concerned (Paranoid? Maybe.) so I'll have my other group go after those.

It's doubtful if either of these tasks will provide any immediate benefit, but we should have a third population unit on the way next round, and I want to have a nice selection to choose from when we hit our target number and start pushing the tech tree.

tl;dr

Putting all available FS into population growth immediately.

HG 1 is hunting the predatory birds that imitate luminous seeds.
HG 2 is hunting the scavengers that hang around our camp.

For SCIENCE!

[chrisrawr]

The variation of Landviathan numbers by season is something that goes unnoticed by many Ilerians - when they hunt, they find ample food, and the future is something to worry about as it comes. However, many elders spend their days watching the beasts, and conversing with the Broodmothers over days of old.

Though not the most knowledgeable, the Broodmothers have naught else to do but listen to the tales of hunters and tend their spawnlings. Their language is primitive and slow, but the Elders have patience born from years of hunts.

Their discovery is worrying - like the temperature or the water level, consistency is important in Ilerian life. Without some way to ensure it, future broods may have to retreat from the inlands entirely.

-------

A hunting party, led by Gvnik Far-Slinger, was entrusted with the years-long trek across the drylands. Many would die, though some would rather return home in shame rather than see their task through.

"We-hunt, only-kill-food. Capture, young." A trill indicates a joined sentence, much as humans might use "and" or "also". "Landmother. Breed-in-numbers, much-food."


OOC:

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DM's Post Interpretation

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Abundant living space for now. Landviathans gonna run out if I keep focusing them down, but are fine for now.

Food by area:
Lakes/Rivers: Silvertails (Fish) and Snappers (Crabs)
Shores + Nearby: Landhair (Grass/Seed), Sweetpods (peas)
Drier areas: Large berry (Krakenberries), Dipper Eggs (bird eggs), Bogworts (scavengers), Landviathans (Large flock animal)
Oceans: Silvertails, Snappers, Grubbers (shellfish)

Possible Resources Nearby: Krakenberry shells, Horns, Bones + Hides (various animals)

Traits

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Food Surplus: 1 Surplus
Population: 3 Hunter/Gatherers
Resources: Skin, Sinew, Ivory (Landviathan)
Ideas: Landviathan 1, Mysticism 1 (Predicted: Landhair 1, Snappers1)
Monuments: No monuments

Actions

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H/G1 gathers Landhairfor 2 food. H/G2 gathers Snappersfor 2 food. H/G3 spends those 4 studying Landviathans, leaving me with 1 food if I'm not mistaken.

Attempting to set up Landviathan kennels.

[LordChaos13]

Gwersyll Cartref (or in English Home Camp) is covered in decorations, from pelts and skulls on the huts to some of the more successful hunters making the structure of their huts with bones tied together with sinew-twine

The giant hut of the Chief having expanded even more, grabbing some of the closer huts and incorporating them. Entire families held within it's walls in their own sections.
The current chief, Adeiladwr, stood at the outskirts of the village watching the tired gatherers carting back the small bags (made of an emptied Cig stomach) of meat to the fire or nuts and fruit.
As much food as he can make in a single trip was not much. Barely enough to feed people here.
There were entire weeks where the Uncooked Pile didn't exist!

Thinking on it the Builder, as he would be come to be known, thought long and hard.
Barely a year later it was in place. Bone and sinew and Cig stomach combined to make a 2-man stretcher big enough to carry more than the amount a dozen could carry alone.
Adeiladwr set up a large pavilion-like hut in both Gwersyll Cartref and Cnau Chwerw (Bitter Nut)

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Working the Meat
Study Idea: Stretchers using Bone structure, Sinew to tie things together and the stomach lining as the material holding everything up

[WrathOfLife]

Plainsfolk

Times were good for the Plainsfolk, new things were discovered about the world around, but still there were questions at the back of their minds. Was this all there was? Or was there more, hidden beyond understanding..

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One set of workers continues to hunt the more aggressive Woolies, encouraging their domestication.
[Work Resource: Woolies]

Another set of workers returns to working seedcrowns, trying to increase the supply of food.
[Work Resource: Seedcrowns]

[shadowxknight]

Lycans

The Lycans have settled well into their new home. The food is plentiful and the plains offer plenty of room for them to roam. Ever mindful of their food resources, the Lycans are careful not to overhunt the woolies. As their numbers continue to grow, the Lycans are determined not to make the same mistakes as the past.

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OOC: Would the new population be added in the beginning of the turn or end of turn? I'll just write up an action just in case

Actions:
Population 1: Herd and hunt the smaller woolies onto the plains where there is better food. Protect them predators(including the bigger woolies).
Population 2: Explore the lands to the east
Population 3: Continue to hunt the big woolies that are too aggressive or weak.

[D20ragon]

The year has been good to the Inuri. With the discovery of the plentiful fishing of the shoreline, and the new substance flint, they have prospered. But the Puka is worried. Though they prosper now, a time of inaction has befallen her people. And so she has sent more to the shoreline, ordering them to not return until they have built a settlement there. A harsh decision, perhaps, but one which she hopes will serve them well.

In the meantime, she has things to do. The stone Lembo and Lain found is far more useful then she originally thought. She has ordered their family to study it, and to find its best uses. Even now, she hears excited talk coming from their dwelling. Perhaps she'd better find out what that's about.

[Aux-Ash]

Turn 4
Seasons go and seasons come, the great mystery continues. An elder leaves behind her people as she goes to the eternal rest. A new and cherished child is brought into the world. A tree is felled and turned into a great fire. A seed is planted and next year a sapling pushes itself out of the earth.
The great herds migrate away, only to return the next year. Everything goes and comes. Only the skies and the mountains endure.
Wood elves

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The cloud dirt is cold and wet and turns to water when you hold it in your hands (and near fire). It is known that firewood that has not been covered will be damp and rotten when spring comes. Ground sun comes when the land is dry and warm; Cloud dirt comes afterwards when it is cold and turns the land moist when it melts in spring.

Perhaps, like with butterflies, ground sun is like the cocoon that the larva wraps itself in; dying only to be later reborn as the cocoon has dried and cracked. The means for the land to be reborn.

Results

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By working the tubers you earn 1 additional Food Surplus this turn, for a total of 3.

8 Food Surplus is spent and a 3rd Population Unit (Hunters and Gatherers) is earned. Available for use from this turn forward.

You also gain:
1 credit towards Mysticism, putting you at 1+2.

Axolo

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The bird is, much like the anglers, brilliant hunters. Where the anglers have their luminous bulbs on their tongues however, these birds have them at the very end of their tail feathers. They seem to spit on the bulbs in order to “ignite” them and then lay them on the ground and sits watching. As prey approaches they sit very still and then cover the bulb with the remainder of the feather and throws itself, talons first, at its prey. They usually flee at the sight of the snappers, as they seem unable to hurt them.

Like the snappers and the anglers, hunting them is not the most rewarding in terms of food. But the focus on them lead to an accidental but interesting discovery: a child, too young to understand not to eat strange things, put a few of the collected faded bulbs into his mouth and ate them. His parents caught him by noticing that his entire mouth was brightly glowing blueish-green.
Naturally, the child was scolded but it lead to some experimentation that deduced that if you spit on the bulbs after eating something sweet they will reignite for a few minutes.

The birds do not seem to nest near ground however. Or at the very least, not near lightsources.

The scavengers turn out to be a rather easy prey however. They seem to be completely dependent on your people down here and it’s easy to hunt them. They form packs and can give a really nasty bite if you press them. So it’s not harmless like the rodents running around. They also seem to be able to hunt on their own and observation tells you that they have a very keen sense of smell.

Results

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OOC: Crocodiles is how I imagine them, yeah. Except smaller. More compact body.

Working the angler-bird gives you access to Luminous bulbs, Bone and Feathers. Working the Scavengers gives you access to Bone, Sinew, Skin and 1 additional Food Surplus (due to being relatively easy to hunt , rather than plentiful).
You therefore gain 3 Food Surplus this turn.

8 Food Surplus is spent, 1 remaining, and you will have access to a third Population Unit from this turn forward.

You also gain:
Angler Bird 1
Scavenger 1
Luminous bulbs 1

Ilerians

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The landhair is longer and has much bigger seeds than most other forms of grasses that grow on the land. It also does not grow well on the dryer parts of the land, but instead requires a certain water level covering it’s saplings and roots at all times. Eating the seeds raw is, as is quickly discovered, inadvisable as it leads to a terrible pain in the stomach. However, once cooked in water it’s very filling and tasty. A bit sticky.
An interesting observation is that the stalks can be bended and provide excellent materials for baskets for use on both land and in water.

The snappers live in the mud and eat what they can catch in their pincers, fishing them is easy enough and though their shells is a bit tricky to open without pricking oneself on the sharp bit they’re no match for an experienced Ilerian.

There’s some experimentation on putting the Landviathans in kennels but it turns out not to work terribly well. Most of the time they simply wreck the fences and flee out again and the few times the fences are sturdy enough they seem to be half-panicked by loneliness and the presence of your people. It is known that only dying Landviathans are alone, perhaps that’s why trapping them in enclosures isn’t too successful?
Like your people, they seem to be lead by their older broodmothers, experienced and calm: with the males competing for the right to mate and the rest of the time simply following the remainder at the herd. Perhaps that’s another trick to mastering them?

Results

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You are correct in that you earn 5 Food Surplus this turn. Working the landhair also gives you access to Reeds and the Snappers Chitin.

Spending 4 on Landviathans means you have 1 left at the end of the turn.

You also gain:
Landviathan 2+1
Snappers 1
Landhair 1
Basketweaving 1

Dynol

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Bone is an interesting material to work with, it’s soft enough to carve and sturdy and elastic enough to handle weight. It is also fairly light, though a bit macabre to look at. The Builder’s creation is a nifty thing. It can’t take an entire person’s weight but it makes travel so much easier as you can now actually carry things with you.
But furthermore, bone is useful for more than just stretchers. The Builder has inspired a generation of Dynol to work with the material and produces sickles, hooks, barbed spears that stick in the prey, needles, buttons, shafts and a brief foray into axes (which turns out to be vastly inferior to your previous stone axes… but it works as a haft for them).

Results

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By working the Woolen Grazers (Cigs?) you earn 3 Food Surplus in total this turn. Bringing you up to 9. You can afford to purchase a third population unit if you wish, if so let me know in the ooc thread and you can use them this turn. You’d have 1 Food Surplus left if you do so.

You also gain:
Bonecarving 1+1.

Plainsfolk

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It’s getting easier to manage the woolies these days. Over generations they become more and more accustomed to you and less and less aggressive. Even the males now tolerate the presence of your people most days. Your people have now learned not to kill any in the presence of the others as well, making it much easier to prevent a stampede.

Results

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Working both resources yields you 4 Food Surplus this turn (and the usual resources).

Lycans

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The lands to the east are covered in sparse forests, not quite as thick as the lands to the south that you’re accustomed to. The great horned grazers only live in small numbers here and are slightly smaller in size than their plains brothers, much like their brothers among the hills. It’s bordered in the southeast by the might river and to the north and northeast extends the mighty plains. The south is the deep forest and the west and northwest are the lands familiar to your people.
But a new source of food is available. It’s a small plant that grows near the ground that produces long elongated green-yellow seedpods filled with round seeds. They’re sweet and filling to eat.

Chasing the woolies down from the hills takes a long time but eventually it proves to be successful. Small herds wander down and stay down there, but they’re ravaged by predators. But enough of them survive. The bigger horned grazers are no threat to them however, as they seem to eat nothing but grasses and aren’t threatened by the small woolen things.
Like the larger horned ones, they form large herds that roam together and group up when threatened. The males have horn that coil around their heads. They’re all covered in thick and soft wool that is an excellent complement to your furs during winter. Their flesh is fatty and nourishing and they’re even slightly easier to hunt that the larger horned ones.

Results

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Working the small woolen grazers gives you Wool, Bones and Sinew and 1 additional Food Surplus

You earn 3 FS this turn and spending 2 of them gives you your 3rd Population unit that is available from this turn forward.

The sparsely forested lands to the east contains Green-Yellow seed pods that can be foraged.

You also gain:
Woolen grazers 1

Inuri

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The settlement near the shores grows slowly but steadily. New houses being erected, old ones replaced. Piece by piece adapted to make life slightly easier. Long racks to hang fish to dry from, high enough so the scavengers won’t steal any but not so high as to make it difficult to work with them.

Meanwhile, the Inuri are getting increasingly adept at working the flint. Making tools with sharper edges with less flint knapped off. More accurate and slimmer designs and above all faster. Quickly being used to make spears to fish with and hunt.

Results

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I am assuming the first action is to work Fish again. If this is not correct then let me know as soon as possible. As such you again access to 1 additional food surplus and Bone.

You thus produce 3 FS this turn. 2 more and you could purchase a third population unit. Or you could spend it on an idea (like knapping)

You also gain:
1 credit towards Knapping. Putting you at 1+1

[PMChapmanii]

With there interests on fire, the Lessien Telrúnya tribe looks at the tubers with great interest, hoping to shape cocoon like structures to observe how fire makes life new, without being distracted from becoming a part of the proses.

The great elders however are more interested in the snow. Thinking that if the snow works as a cocoon for the ground then the snow may work for food as well, transforming or preserving the food. For this reason they decide to move there research into the mysticism of what snow can do for food.

Those who are about to die or dead often go into the fire hoping to be changed and live.

Spoiler: Math

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1 food reserve left
H&G 1: continues gathering tubers
H&G 2: reserches the tubers (+2 food to gain a level) hitting large ones with rocks to shape into a covering (like armor) against the fire so they can see what/how fire works without being destracted by being part of the prosses.
H&G 3: reserch mystisism of how snow works to preserve; testing things like food, near dead and dead bodys.

[WrathOfLife]

Plainsfolk

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Both set of populations are to continue farming the woolies.

All FS to be spent on a population unit.

If the new unit gets an action it is to start working the Seed Crowns again.

[chrisrawr]

In the cold season, many Snappers retreat under the hardened waterskin, leaving few to munch for the young. Though puncturing the waterskin is easy for an adult, the cold numbs the tentacles - many have looked for ways to lure the Snappers and Silvertails to the surface, but few succeed.

The landhair, as well, seems to falter and wilt - only growing truly in the hot seasons. Strangely, the Krakenberry survives quite well. Their hard shells split and crack in the cold, releasing seeds that burrow into the ground during the melting season. These seeds are protected from above by the shell, disguised in white to match the snow.

A Broodmother produces enough heat with her body to warm even the largest bodies of water for her children. In deep cold, sometimes a number of Mothers will be placed together in order to provide suitable habitation.

However, this year another solution had been found - deep within the swamp, hung from trees with twined grass and vine, a years worth of weaving and chitinous shell cover a lonely pool far from the warmth of numbers.

Within this contraption, a fire burns, the heat trapped and amplified by the covering. The smoke in the roof deters stinging insects, while the unnaturalness of it wards predators.

-----

In the hot-dry season, hunters once again attempt to tame the Landviathans - their boldness waxing with the sun. Many attempts are made to trap a landmother, to tie her to one place and breed her so that the hunts need not roam too far from the wetlands. Mostly, however, their efforts result in the death of their quarries.

Water is carried in baskets lined with the bladders of Landviathans, letting hunting parties stay limber even far from home. Also in the water are fresh snappers or silvertails - snacks to quench hunger, carried by children too young to participate in the kill.

OOC:

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DM's Post Interpretation

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Abundant living space for now.

Food by area:
Lakes/Rivers: Silvertails (Fish) and Snappers (Crabs)
Shores + Nearby: Landhair (Grass/Seed), Sweetpods (peas)
Drier areas: Large berry (Krakenberries), Dipper Eggs (bird eggs), Bogworts (scavengers), Landviathans (Large flock animal)
Oceans: Silvertails, Snappers, Grubbers (shellfish)

Possible Resources Nearby: Krakenberry shells, Horns, Bones + Hides (various animals), Grass, Chitin

Traits

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Food Surplus: 1 Surplus (Projected: 6)
Population: 3 Hunter/Gatherers
Resources: Skin, Sinew, Ivory (Landviathan), Weaving Grass, Chitin
Ideas: Landviathan 2, Mysticism 1, Landhair 1, Snappers 1, Weaving 1
Monuments: No monuments

Actions

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HG1 studies Shelter (for free? and gains 1 food?) HG2 gathers Krakenberries for 2 food. HG3 gathers Landviathan for 2 food.

Attempting to set up Landviathan kennels.

z

[Aux-Ash]

Turn 5
Wood elves

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The attempts at cocoons prove rather futile. The heat of the fire bakes whatever inside of them, much like inside fire pits. It is simply too hot inside of them during the forest fires for anything to survive inside. However, it was not entirely for nothing. For while it cannot be used to protect people it did prove itself a very effective way to dry what is moist.
A few iterations and a few of the tribes start using the clay from the riverbanks to form pots and jugs which are then dried in pits with fire. They’re crude and fragile, but can hold even water for lengthy periods of time without losing a single drop.

The studying of the snow however, turns out to be a much more rewarding endeavor. It absolutely prevents food from spoiling. The food turns frozen, to be sure. And not all food can be stored for as long as other kinds (particularly fatty meat) but it allows food from going longer before spoiling which is immensely valuable.

Results

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By working Tubers this turn you earn 2 FS and also gives you access to Vines
You thus earn 4 FS this turn in total.

From your research you add one credit to Mysticism, putting you at 1+3, and 3 credits in Tubers putting you at rank 2.

Your research yields not only progression into the chosen ideas, but you also earns Pit Fired Pottery at rank 1 and Cooling Preservation at rank 1.

Plainsfolk

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You people focusing all its effort on the woolies put significant stress on the animal herds, their numbers shrink slightly as your consumption coupled with other predators, disease and old age kill them off much faster than they can recover.
Your elders note that their herds are much lower in numbers than it used to be. Perhaps it is like with certain plants, that if you take everything year after year then eventually the land will no longer provide.

Results

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Working the woolies with both population units earns you 4 FS this turn, and the usual set of resources they provide.

All 8 FS is spent on the population unit. Which will be available for use from this turn onwards.

Ilerians

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The woven shelter quickly catches on since they make the winters much more bearable and increases the safety of the young. It is laborious to make the thick rope that constitutes them but very rewarding once they’re raised over the pools. There’s still much room for improvement but that should not discount the huge leap forward that is these shelters.

Krakenberry and Landviathan also prove to be a particularly tasty combination.

Results

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You correctly calculated that you earn 5 FS this turn. The Landviathan provides the usual resources. The Krakenberry though, in addition to its food yields its Hard Shells which make excellent pots.

Your study of Shelters, which I interpreted as shelters based on Rope (ie. a sort of tent) gives you access to Rope-making at rank 1+1. As a bonus, every three ranks in Rope-making provide a discount for any Fiber Crops you may come across (which right now are none).
In addition, you also gain Krakenberry at rank 1 for working them for the first time. This is both a food skill and a technology skill at the same time.

[PMChapmanii]

It does not take long for the fired pots to be placed in baskets so that they last longer, though no real experimentation has been made on the subject.

The proof of how nature goes in cycles, waisting nothing, has become very important. Not only because food can be stored longer, but because it shows that the trash is usable. It makes sense as the scavengers have been taking it for so long. The mystics have decided that well continuing research into snow would be useful they must continue there research into mysticism, by spinning on the savagers and figuring out how to make trash useful.

The fire born tribe however is getting quite the workout as they too research mysticism, though in there own way. The fire born tribe is running everything to the fire to see how the fire changes things, from meat to weaved pots smothered in clay. One of the people in the tribe even tries to see what the burnt wood would do, rubbing it against rocks and making symbols.

Spoiler: Math

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FS 4+1snow+3H&G+2tubers=10

H&G1 continues to gather tubers

H&G2 researches mysticism by tossing other things in the fire such as food and trash. Experimenting with what fire turns things into. One person even takes the charcoal and wipes it against objects.

H&G3 researches mysticism by trying to figure out what trash can be turned into, following the circler of life theory that they have observed in nature.