Our efforts in the southern grasslands have paid off it would seem. An offshoot of the Wenhai clan has taken interest in Auwana. Largely because they apparently sent someone to confirm that a floating island actually does exist, and took an interest when it was mentioned that we have a large supply of spider silk easily available. They may not have realized what that silk comes from though. They are known as the Xiaoshen clan. Descendants from Wenhai who have been far from home for a little while, if you recall the real Wenhai are further south than the grasslands after all. Their names are strangely short and easy to confuse with other words I find, I’m not sure how efficient that is but it seems ingrained into them throughout generations to name their children like that.
They do also know the secrets of the silk weaving as the Wenhai did. We’ll have to see how they and the Nezatl can work with that. They split themselves into two distinct positions among the clan. Those who are born dedicated to being warriors and trained from an early age as such and those made to pursue the paths of maintaining the needs of the village. Apparently it was an idea they had two generations or so ago in order to have more reliable defenses from the many things out to eat us. Their warrior “caste” as they call it like to use bizarre tools instead of the traditional spear and club. Notably many opting for smaller implements or even just their hands. Something about a warrior should never be unarmed. While they have the desire for experimentation with weaponry they don’t seem to have the talents of Iiniwa or the Dozen to help them along. Well not until now at least.
Be sure to help them settle in.
On to other matters, we’re still moving people into position to begin the full assault. The Travelers indicate the southern villages guarding the key edges are likely to be the least protected whereas the northern ones the most. This is because the northern areas of the jungle are home to the arakkoa while the southern is heavily influenced by the Ranoni. Which as we know have very different views on Xiomac. It seems the southern ones are more so hidden than guarded.
Xacalli is on her way to begin talks with the Ranoni and I think its worth mentioning we should send someone to the Akoa…if not the travelers since they are already hanging out with the Akoa by technicality.
Basically we’re trying to move a lot of people all at once so its taking a bit to get everything in order.
Is the caste system of the new guys slavery? I don’t know if I’m offended or not yet.
Also yes the bees are coming along well. We’re still waiting to see what happens in the cold, though we did get some more honey for you at least.
Our bone collectors are definitely gaining a reputation for being a little strange now that they’re collecting blood as well. Soon enough we will be just collecting corpses overall. Actually that might help Tupai’s work so not the worst idea.
It would seem your meeting with Esin went well enough. She came to the village to meet with Hakenu’e though she was still a bit of a difficult person to talk to. Probably because Koamalu was there as well.
Alihana and Sawiri have been preparing for the ambush though neither have left the village to do so. Their explanation was “gryphons and scrying pool”. I told them I would pass it along to you.
The hunt for the great stalker is long, with many a winding turn. The Vanguard, assisted by Kennae, are looking to try and find the beast a second time but as the first time indicated, its difficult.
Uyitzan is on his way back, though might be a little while considering we sent him into a whole other teritory. Iiniwa is managing the home front.
Also the gryphons have formed mating pairs, which is good for our future of flight. At least that’s what I think they’re doing.
Esin still seems unsettled in regards to what she wants to do around here. Though doesn’t seem that enticed by the offer to join the dozen, I suppose chief of the flying folk holds more interest. That and she is still definitely taking her time with the options. Xacalli on the other hand asked what the advantages of joining an established clan over just lurking around the village is.
Also I marked the map where the travelers currently are. They are moving a little further south and then towards the east.
My abilities stem from a ring Alihana gave me, you seem to be her elder. That being said, the orcish manner of bolstering one another is rooted in shamanism. I don’t think either of our powers share a domain with that. Attempting to transfer your abilities towards another would be curious though. There are not many healers that rely on magic, even my own abilities are really just to keep blood in the body, or pull it out and put it back in when necessary. If yours has to do with the transfer of life and power, that would put it more in the domain of the crows. Only the king has been able to gift such a thing…well and his brother but we don’t talk about that much.
So to use your ability for healing we’d need to really figure out what it is and how it works.
Behold for it is I, the cosmic force of all things. Coming once again because it makes no sense to have an advisor explain the following knowledge to the new player who would know their own clan members.
Zhuan is one of the older members of the clan, born of the warrior caste and excelling past expectations. He has since invented many techniques he passes on to those he teaches and is considered the greatest of the Xiaoshen’s warriors. He also has spent a lot of time as an advisor to the previous chief as well as the current one. Acting as a sort of mentor to the younger as well when they were young and just taking over the clan following the death of her father. By all accounts he is thoroughly amazing.
Now if only he wasn’t so lazy. If left to his own devices Zhuan will spend it doing nothing in particular. His position has afforded him the ability to rely on others to meet his basic needs. Barring something needing an actual fight he sometimes takes some extra motivating to convince to do anything.
Laisun is another member of the warriors. She was born to a strong warrior father on the day of his death. While she was supposed to be of the working caste she felt a compulsion to continue in her father’s place. She trained in secret for some while until she was able to acquire the title of Wilds Walker, an honorary title acquired by stripping naked and defeating a monster or beast of equivalent weight. Meaning despite her lack of claws, teeth, or really anything that would make that a viable idea, she punched that thing to death anyways. She does normally carry a knife though for obvious reasons, but upon acquiring the title she was able to petition to take up her father’s place in the clan as one of its warriors instead of remaining a gatherer.
She is an extremely focused and driven individual, often pushing herself dangerously close to the limit of her abilities. This has sometimes resulted in her coming back home barely alive. Though her teachers do commend her dedication, which probably only encourages her to keep trying such stunts.
Caowei is an oddity in that her own clan has rarely seen her. Known to disappear for years on end, Caowei is technically a scout. One who was presumed dead a long time ago only to return after having walked much further than anyone anticipated. She has since been “presumed dead” multiple times because she kept doing this. She is something of a loner and is stricken by a sense of wanderlust. She was never content living on the grasslands and would just keep on wandering looking for anything of interest, occasionally bringing back trinkets of her travels to the clan.
She isn’t the strongest warrior or even technically a scout, she was originally just looking for new food sources. She has become quite good in combat by necessity of constantly being attacked by monsters across the many lands she walks. At some point she acquired, and now favors, a unique spear with a bone knife for the spearhead. The knife is of Sawiri’s make but he has no idea who she is or where she got it, though he does tend to trade with anyone for anything.
She’s been to the plains, jungle, frozen north, southern waters, and eastern desert and has seen many things though perhaps less than one might hope as she’s not prone to talking to people. So she only knows “what things tried to eat me while I was there” for the most part.
Upon hearing of the clan’s plan to join a tribe that lived on a floating island it seemed a reasonable compromise for her, since her home would now move and wander for her.
And now back to your regularly scheduled advisor updates.
Well I suppose we’re here now for better or worse. The clan is still dealing with the occasional scares of encountering some of the people the Launi’Kauhale have collected. While we already knew the Hariwana were here its still a bit of a shock to see their piles of bones that they collect.
To go over the basics the present clans and their affairs include:
Beastkin: They’re a bunch of shamans named for their totem binds to their spirit animals that often causes them to change their shape to that of a hybrid between their human forms and their totems. They’re the big kahuna around here, and are a bit wary of the Hariwana due to one raising the dead and the other communing with them.
The Hariwana are the infamous bone enchanters, led by a lot of creepy looking people. So far they just seem to really like shadow puppets. Though they specialize in experimenting with magic in general. They lack the distinctive singular theme the others have…but their stuff is all kind of darkly orientated anyways.
The Huanacan live to the south in the forest, they’re a little antisocial after years of being hunted by humans for…every reason possible. They’re comprised entirely of monsters. They’re actually pretty sociable I’ve learned.
The Nezatl live in the main village, they’re mostly crafters and maintain the temple. Also tricksters and zealots. For a group known for rescuing enslaved people from raiding parties they carry themselves more like pranksters.
The Dozen are a group of warriors formed from various other clans. Focusing more on individual recruitment to raise elite warriors. Their culture is kind of diverse as a result. Though their chieftain, Mor, is somewhat eccentric.
The orcish remnants are technically their own clan but they don’t have much say in the council of chiefs, largely due to how few of them are left. Though they were recruited after the war in the northern plains over the whole ‘burning the entire plains’ thing that nearly wiped out all of the orcs.
Finally there is a group of flying folk living on the far side of the southern mountain who are technically part of the Huanacan but lately seem to be in a position in between being a full clan of their own versus a long range subordinate of an existing one. I haven’t quite figured out everything going on there.
The tribe in general is currently in a war with Xiomac, who is apparently the perpetrator of the Ubaba village’s destruction. At least according to Xacalli. That’s the gist of whats going on that I have for now. I’m going to go take a nap.