I return from the burial of Kinich, as well as the demon chieftain.
By the council’s will we have taken the beasts that can fly from the Chanai territory. Fortunately most were intact thanks to the storm preventing them from joining the battle. Among their collection is a large number of gryphons from the eastern mountain, it appears they were breeding these in particular. There are a few other more unique ones though they can all be described as “large four legged creatures with wings.” While Tehanau has helped with bringing them here and making them more convenient to work with they are still a little on the wild side. Under the Chanai their absolute obedience was likely what propelled the clan and their warbeast to such power over the plains. For us it will take a little more effort. They are already comfortable with being ridden and move in patterns beneficial for the rider to not fall off. However, they don’t like being hurt. So be careful about riding them into battle.
There are four notable exceptions, I’ll leave the Huanacan to go over that though.
Those at the old grounds of the Huanacan have been lifted back to us as well, along with the supplies and those who lived there for a little while. With Coszacatl recovered this means that all are accounted for. Kennae has been brought back as well for the ceremony, along with his snails and other oddities he collected from below.
This means the entirety of Auwana have returned, even our dead. The island is moving westward, and soon we will pass into the jungles. We have already established a relationship with the Akoa elves and the Kapiya. Though we know there are more clans still to be discovered, and two entities with the influence above all clans other than the Akoa.
With the new beasts we have obtained our food supply dwindles once more, and we will need to forage the jungles. Mor tells me we should expect many dangers. Auwana will not be passing through unnoticed for obvious reasons, and we do not know how many denizens of the jungle can fly. However, we have learned that it hosts arakkoa somewhere within it that we may need to be particularly wary of. We must also consider that the flying beasts will only have so many ways to enter the jungle given its thick canopies, limiting our range of clearings from which to enter.
While we have some time before we reach the jungles, we must prepare our plan for once we arrive. It is unlikely that its denizens will ignore us for too long. It appears the ashen plains were home to some of the most ‘unique’ clans by comparison so far. I will have the Dozen and the Nezatl figure how to deal with the native clans, as they are the least alarming, not counting Silas. Our war with the Chanai has depleted our numbers, my objective is to see if any clans might wish to join our tribe. We must also be on the lookout for improving our food supply, though in the meantime hunting in the jungles should be fruitful at least temporarily. The Dozen report the beasts to be large and ferocious, full of meat but full of fight as well. So be careful of who you send before we have established what to expect of these jungles.
Also since there didn’t seem to be terribly strong feelings on what the orcs do, not to mention a tie between you two, I have given them some offers to see what they preferred. They are already uncomfortable being a part of the Launi’Kauhale, though that sentiment is changing with those coming in from the war and now the entire clan being reunited. They still don’t have the numbers or merit to join the council of chiefs, but we could leave them as their own clan in the sense that each clan is a family of its own. That is the normal interpretation after all, we just happen to be made up of the most eccentric clans in the plains. Between the Huanacan, Dozen, and Nezatl it seems the majority of our tribe are made up of clans who are bonded by trials rather than blood. Leaving the orcs to their own offshoot clan renders them outside of any of our five’s direct authority, which might offer them some comfort. Though this still leaves them under the Nezatl’s judgement as far as tribal affairs go, so they can’t quite do whatever they want. I find this arrangement to be favorable to our goals of expanding our tribe even further. Any wayward soul who is not prepared to join our clans could still find a home here this way. So we will see how they settle in over time, and how any further lone additions might find a place to fit in. The Hariwana graciously already prepared homes for them, so the matter of where within the village they shall live has already been settled. I have told them to make sure they view the Launi’Kauhale as if it were a single clan in regards to their interactions with others.
I asked their clan to send one forth to represent them as a champion of the tribe. This is Maloth, the second most accomplished of their number during the battle with the Chanai. The first most accomplished died fighting a werewolf. Maloth is a shaman of another kind from myself. While Jula represents their most knowledgeable, Maloth is their most practical. She does just a few rituals but can do them quickly. She has the power to see the dead and summon a spiritual guardian in the shape of a lion. Though she cannot bind with it as my kin do. She is a fantastic warrior, though her skills as a hunter may need some improvement. The art of tracking is not her strongest suit if there is no spirit to guide her.
She is being trained in the shaman ways by the new orc chieftain Jula as well as being taught a few of my clan’s tricks by Koamalu. Particularly the ability to communicate with the dead. She’s a bit grouchy sometimes but I am told that is a recent thing, so perhaps the loss of her clan is taking some time for her to recover from. I figure she will be useful in assisting our scouts in their adventures as she is the best of their shaman’s that can survive out there on her own. Since the orcs are their own clan she falls under none of us who specifically, so if you have anything you want her to do be sure to summon her yourselves.
As per the vote, from those who voted, we have decided not to be slave takers as a tribe. That is all for now, prepare yourselves and your people for our journey to the jungle. Those of you who haven’t already done so at least. Also look to Mor for assistance in laying any such plans, he has already sent several teams into that place ahead of time.
We have extracted a small harvest of honey for you to try. We’re still being careful with that until we see how harsh the winters can be up here on Auwana. So don’t get too used to it just yet.
Also the elder chief seems to want us to represent the tribe in the upcoming jungles as a first impression. I’m just as surprised as you are, so we might want to figure out what you want me and Nenetl to do.
Also our crafters have been looking a bit into weapons given the apparent need for them we recently went through. Using the designs Mor gave us with the bows and drider silk we’ve managed to produce quite a few useful ones. So we have a bunch of really nice bows laying around now.
As for our own magic, well you have me you know… I’m the most powerful in the clan.
Just because some mythical old man gave you magic powers doesn’t make you the clan’s strongest. Just the weirdest, you still can’t take me in a fight.
Yeah good luck catching me. Though but seriously Xoco, I am the most powerful with magic we have IN CASE YOU FORGOT. Though as for regular magic, we’ve never had any signature tricks as a clan. Most of the girls were slaves so they just know how to work and…well lets not talk about their other talent. No one has ever really pursued any finger waving madness around here other than myself and maybe that one weirdo who swears her ability to sing is a gift from the goddess. Doesn’t help that no one knows how my abilities work, even Alihana can’t figure it out and I have tried very hard to show her how it works. Hrm? Oh right-
Citlanal is a priestess to the trickster god. She claims she can produce any sound through a gift she was given for her faith. Admittedly she can make any sound I have tried asking for. She generally does most of the services since she can project her voice across a great distance. We take her hunting sometimes and have her do mating calls to lure things in. Apparently her ability to manipulate her voice for some reason includes her feet and those of others since she can make the whole hunting party completely silent. Combined with my ability we just disappear.
It’s noise you dummy. She manipulates sounds in general. You manipulate sight, she manipulates hearing.
Right that.
Do you feel threatened now that you aren’t the only magic girl in the clan ever since she became capable of doing that?
No, I’m still the strongest. For all your talk of being the best warrior I would think you could appreciate that Citlanal is screwed if she actually tried to fight me. Jokes aside, I am a warrior and I have defeated literally dozens of others to help rescue half the people we have in the clan these days.
Speaking of which, it might be worth noting that the battle with the Chanai crippled them obviously. Sooo we swept up some of their defenseless women into the Nezatl to help out around town. Keep an eye on them though as they don’t all seem totally aware that they came here voluntarily. Some of them seem to think they are captives of war, even though I asked if they wanted to come or not nicely.
Sawiri is definitely going to be busy for a little while, that is a lot of bones to go through. With the giant rex beast’s bones we could go one of two ways. The first being to simply break them down for a lot of weapons that would help our tribe’s warriors that wield them. Azeri and my own weapon’s are unique as Sawiri can rarely find bones large enough to make things like them. From a beast that large several of these long bone knifes could be made. ((Bonuses to all hero units to hit and damage stats))
Alternatively we could do a much larger project with the entire skeleton. Namely, we could reanimate it permanently. The beast was powerful enough to hold such an enchantment if we convert the spell into a ritual for it. I’m not entirely sure how we would ever get it off the island or back up in particular but it would be a powerful guardian. It took Jarthromoth and several others to bring it down in the first place, imagine if it had no organs or sense of pain. It would still be on the slower side, zombies and all, but it was already kind of slow. We could also put a lot of things on its back.
Finally there is a design Sawiri had to imbue it with our spell that projects force, we could fire gigantic spears from it, and they would move very very fast. Sawiri predicts if we produced special spears for it, that it would be capable of shattering a tree in a single (albeit well placed) shot. Though this would be a massive weapon, not particularly easy to take with us on trips anywhere. Could leave it on the edges of Auwana though, might be able to hit the ground.
On to some other bones, he’s created something interesting from the bones but it remains unfinished. In theory its a way to depart the island without the new beasts, which was the plan. The problem is to build it he needs to build a…contraption on the underside of the island at its central point. The other half of it will be in the center on the top side of the island at least. While we have enough bones from the battle to create his design, he’s not sure how to get the bones…there. Even those who can fly definitely can’t build what amounts to a hut anchored to the underside of rocks. Well they could deliver things, but they can’t quite do the finer arts of craftsmanship while flying past it every few seconds. So the specific issue, is we need to get the Nezatl to the underside of the island with enough stability for them to work on it.
So we sent messengers to the clans to see if any of them might join our tribe. In a lapse of judgement we sent messengers to the clans. Though a few did seem to heed our warning about the crows at least. Helping us pick the population back up a little, though no one of particular significance other than Silas really. Then again, I don’t think the Halik or Witch Doctors even had a champion at all. It appears the two of them intend to remain in Chanai territory and establish relationships with those further in the north that had once contacted the Chanai. We did clean up the battlefield near their new home as you asked at least.
Now with all that being taken care of, I’m headed off to help the Dozen chase down that weird bulked up elf. Good luck with your shelter.
We’ve set about tending to the flying beasts brought in by our deal with Tehanau. We’ve had a couple of demons come to settle in with us after the battle, apparently they felt comfortable being close to Zeltzin and us as we are also somewhat isolated as they like to be. While Silas is a direct clan-mate of theirs, they don’t exactly want to join the dozen and that is a bit of a stricter affair. So they’re with us now, some are teaching Zeltzin a little more about her heritage.
Currently of all the clans to attend the battle, we’re doing the best when it comes to recovering from our losses. Also we’re going to need to build some more huts.
So among the new recruits includes some gnolls who once followed Kinich. We already had a few of those but they definitely make up the bulk. They are the survivors of the battle so we can sufficiently call them veteran warriors now. There was also the earlier mentioned demons who it is worth remembering are physically superior to all other races of their size. Though they heal and reproduce slowly, so once injured they will be out for much longer and their lives are much harder to replace if we were to take a more cynic point of view. Also their bones are very valuable to Sawiri so maybe keep them at a distance from him.
There were also a couple of what are apparently called ‘tabaxi’ among those seeking refuge with us. They’re like gnolls, but cats instead.
A special note for two Girtablilee…girtabulu…girtablilu! I’m still getting used to their name, I had never heard of such a thing before. They are similar to the driders, but scorpions instead of spiders. While there are only two, its worth noting they are quite large and clearly powerful warriors just by the nature of their body. Also they can produce an incredibly potent venom. Much stronger than that of the lamia we already had, and in much greater quantities provided they are well fed. Without weapon’s of Sawiri’s make it can be extremely difficult to wound them due to their armored bodies.
Something that calls itself a behir. Its a snake with legs that can spit lightning, he is also prone to growling at people who get near him a lot. I get the impression Kinich was the first person he ever trusted.
A couple more lamia too, they seem to be all over this territory. I suspect the basilisk in the eastern mountain has something to do with that.
Also obviously the gryphons. I feel kind of bad knowing the Chanai could dominate such creatures, these are not instinctive beasts. A gryphon can be very intelligent, enough to even join our clan. They’re even smarter than our resident owlbear everyone loves. There was also some sort of horse with wings among the bunch, some rather large birds, and a scaled thing that is clearly not a wyvern but isn’t that far off. Bit on the skinny side.
As Hakenu’e mentioned, there are four notable exceptions. They are the true warbeasts we acquired, they are not quite so skittish and much more willing to fight. It should be noted that this is because without the Chanai domination they are already trying to fight everything. I would classify them as being extremely aggressive and far more intelligent than average
Any who wish to use them as flying mounts now that they are no longer under Chanai control is going to need to put in a lot of work to even be able to pet them. While the other beasts might be easier to just let be used as is needed, whoever these four work for are not changing that so easily.
I gave them names too. Majid is a manticore like Hobnil. Majid is a bloodthirsty lunatic who might be traumatized by his time with the Chanai. He already tried to tear my head off as soon as the druid turned around. I am familiar with manticores though thanks to Hobnil, we also know they can understand language if you work with them enough. Any who wish to ride the manticore will have to find a way to deal with his asinine levels of unguided aggression.
Perxtli is…something I’ve never actually seen before. I have no idea where they found her. Perxtli is a little less aggressive than Majid but Kennae informs me she is strictly carnivorous. He actually says its likely her species feeds especially on humans. This one might be a bit of work. If you don’t touch her she doesn’t bite though, but she seems constantly agitated. I think the trick with Perxtli is going to be finding a way to earn her trust.
Usukan is what you might consider an alpha of the gryphons we acquired. Though perhaps patriarch would be more accurate. He is basically the biggest, meanest, and most aggressive of them all, and the other gryphons notably consider him in charge. Unlike the rest of the gryphons, Usukan has no fear of battle. Actually the problem is probably getting him to ever retreat from a fight. Usukan and Majid have already gotten into several fights with each other, which is honestly the only way I can keep both under any form of control by keeping them tired out on each other. Majid is a maniac, but Usukan is proud. He seems to fight on the basis of asserting authority rather than reckless aggression. He also clearly understands tactics and tools. He will not fight like any beast you have met before. Seriously don’t go near that cage, he learned how the door works. I’m convinced the only reason he’s still in there right now is we keep feeding him, I think he thinks its a tribute. Any who wish to ride him will have to prove themselves his superior, and he’s a bit of a stubborn thing.
Vaksha is, thankfully, the most calm of the entire group now that he seems to have gathered what the situation is. He is also the most intelligent, as in I am really worried that the Chanai dominate ability worked on him. He can understand complex directions and spoken language, he just doesn’t really speak himself. He comprehends enough that I could get him to pick what he wanted for dinner by name and having him nod when I picked one he liked. I also managed to describe the Chanai queen to him and get his confirmation that it was her who dominated him. Keep in mind that woman rides a wyvern, and escaped the battle. I’m not convinced she can’t use that spell on humans at this point. Getting him to allow anyone to ride him is less a matter of overcoming his instinct and more a matter of convincing him its worth the time. Might even consider just making him a member of our tribe. On the upside, he doesn’t even need a cage. He’s just sitting over there by the campfire. That being said, Vaksha is still very powerful so approach with some caution. I mean its a five foot tall lion while on all fours, and it can fly.
I have sent the men to chase after Avonaco. We do have some idea of his destination. The survivors recall that the crow folk seemed to want to recruit him, which means they’ll be taking him to their home in the southern side of the plains. Without Ragash, tracking them traditionally be would slow so they have decided to try to either intercept them or chase them all the way back to the village. However, in surveying the scene some of our men learned something interesting from the Halik. Avonaco was not the only one they took, at least not the only one of note. They also took Eerihild while she was still unconscious from fighting Hakenu’e. We’re not sure if they intend to recruit or sacrifice her, though this could be…an interesting development. She and Avonaco are both exceptional warriors, without the one they called Azeri it might be hard for them to transport the two as prisoners. Which might give us time to catch them. Obviously if they make it all the way to their village we would need to launch another war to get in there. I will update you as I learn more, currently the chase goes on across the plains.
Unfortunately, Sawiri cannot create a tracking charm to find items he has not even seen in some while. Though I suspect this is less a matter of limitation and more a matter of him not being able to remember more than half the things he’s made or how they worked. His mind is strong but unsteady. Interestingly though, while he can’t find his own items the orcs can. The bones he enchants seem to be detectable to their ability to see beyond the living. There is a limit of distance on that, but it is at least something similar to what you were looking for.
The Travelers, and Sakazai, remain alongside the Kapiya. The bridges are fairly simple, perhaps better made than most things we have seen for how few materials they utilize. Apparently part of the secret to their strongest bridges is wounding the trees where they will be anchored and letting the trees heal around the anchors. Which reveals something interesting to us, the larger trees in that jungle can heal themselves. Surprisingly quickly. I suspect their wood might have some…interesting properties. Notably they make the bridges out of this wood too. They have never actually built one so long that it didn’t work, so the maximum length is a question they cannot answer.
As for the jungle’s resources, they gave us a fairly comprehensive list of things that are edible. Meat is available if you can kill anything before it kills you, and perhaps inadvertently they revealed the jungle trees might have some interesting properties they have never really compared against normal wood. They also know of some plants that have medicinal value, and fruit is their primary sustenance so there was quite a long list of those things.
With proper preparation, Sakazai was able to locate one of the ‘lairs’ of the giant snakes. Notably, it seems to just curl itself up intertwined between roots of the giant jungle trees to lurk among the foliage. Though it is probably not worth hunting for the kill until the island is closer so we can transport any spoils of the kill back to Auwana. Though I will say that idea you’re thinking of was probably sarcasm. Sawiri was indicating that his magic bones didn’t have much application in making a rope that long. Well perhaps not sarcasm, more so grand plotting. I still doubt even those large snakes would cover a fraction of the distance between Auwana and the ground. Though their bones may yet have other uses.
Have fun on your trip with Silas. I do hope Xacalli is worth all this trouble though.