People of the trees

People of the Trees, you can see the other tribe, and they can likewise see you. Both of you are setting up camp.

(Won't nitpick at the post name since I didn't provide an actual name for my tribe anywhere. *sigh* Okay, I've named them. See above...)

From atop my throne of bones and fur, I look down over my followers using Divine Sight. I absently listen to the prayers of my people and with a wicked grin creeping to my lips I begin to chuckle, learning of the Xionites. They are fit fishermen, although this echo of "NINJA!" ringing through the treetops concerns me. Watching them closely will be a priority, although more readily I will need to bolster my followers defenses. Perhaps some method to do both is more aptly required. No, no... Should they set foot into the forest seeking to approach my people I will let the trees handle them. I must tell my Falconers to be vigilant.

As I watch my falconers working with their feathered companions, I project an illusion of my eyes peering at them from the boughs above. With a sinister laugh that dances among the limbs I speak to them of the Xionites. "The outsiders have established a home nearby. They have violent urges and are intently vocal regarding their kills. They should not be hard to watch in these regards, however, their prowess is exceptional and I would not trust them to get near. Offer prayers immediately should they approach. I will help as I can. To this end, you have my word."

I enjoy the reactions I get from my loyal few, the looks of amazement and occasional supplicating collapse to the knees. Such refreshing images. Humans should always offer tribute on their knees. I shall not discourage this habit.

"Why do only a few of you show proper praise?" The rest fall joining their few brethren, and I let the illusion fade, with my waning echo resounding, a cold laugh of my final words. "Yes, My Children. You have my blessing."

Examining the activities of the regular families of my people I see the daily routines and the signs of their obeying my commandments. They have built their homes in the tops. Good, they will be safe from most land-bound predators. Such a long fall though. I shall have to help develop something for them to protect them from such inauspicious incidents. Something to slow their decent perhaps. Sugar gliders seem to have things down. It's a matter of stretching flaps of flesh from hand to foot... humans will never manage to do that... I sigh. I'll leave them to work something out. If they can't find a solution between observing the sugar gliders, the monkeys, the birds, and the bats perhaps they deserve to become food for scavengers at the base of their own homes.

I did tell them they could live under root... I suppose I am too picky about how my people live. I have always enjoyed leaping limb to limb and living in my cool cave beneath the woods. And I never asked them to raise me to a state of godly power. Divinity was not my choice. Still, they are weak and I see they have potential. Perhaps I can lead them to a better existence. If not... well damn if not I can't go back to where I was before. Fate knows how to find me and his grapplers will likely be on me no sooner tan I return to my "old" ways. I will have to make this work, whether I care or not. I sigh again at the realization. It's almost saddening.

My hunters are using their strength and bodies to help build, game is plentiful and the falconers should have no difficulty gathering some small rodents to feast on. with theri birds. I don not disturb them from aiding the common man. Homes are more important at present. Shelter, then food. I should be so practical. I'm tempted to play a prank on my own people and tell them they've interpreted my commandments all wrong, but that would destroy the bond of trust between us. besides, I am better off being obeyed than being doubted for my sense of humor. I will save my trickery for our enemies.

My trappers are busily laying out a series of pitfalls, nets, tripwires, spiked logs, and nasty defenses and food gathering traps. around the perimeters of my territory. I must guard their efforts. Not one of them shall be allowed to fall to a beast or barbarian while I am on guard over them. I expand my vision to encompass their activities and those of the surrounding woods.

I will watch them until they are safely in the trees again, then I will venture to the gardens and see if I can find this strange god whose spear-fishers scream "NINJA!" The proximity of these outsiders worries me. But my people's safety comes long before mycuriosity in this strange god and his people.

On second thought, a message of peace is in order, and I shall invite them to visit the Xy'caerii and feast.

Before night falls I appear to my people as an illusion, rising out of the very center of the communal fire. Cast in flames, I point to the other city. I speak to them, the crackling and hissing of wet wood and embers underlying the sound of my voice, "Tomorrow you hunt for a gift for the strangers. We shall be hospitable to our neighbors. The gift shall weigh no less than the largest most able of you, my hunters. Be it attained by gathering smaller animals together or by bagging the largest game in the forest matters not. I shall observe the hunt and bless your efforts. Once you have the prey slain, skinned, and carved for presentation, you shall approach the strangers-who-scream-at-fish and shall bear the gift to them as an offering of our good faith."

Lowering my arm I smile, "I will be by your side and no harm shall come to you. You will offer the hospitality of the village in a weeks time to promote unity, and shall promise them a banquet. Once they have accepted the invitation or dismissed it, you shall return home and prepare for a banquet. Tomorrow will be a busy day for you, prepare, and get plenty of rest. I will be with you in spirit."

After I speak the illusion collapses back into the flames and the fire crackles on without any further resemblance to my form.

(This might actually belong here more than in the main PBP forum. Whichever one doesn't belong, please delete, or tell me so I can... no reason to take up extra space.)


As soon as the illusion faded into the fire, the Xy'caerii began chattering among themselves.

Ganna, her regally plumed falcon perched securely on her leather-bound wrist, stepped out and raised her hand to silence the people. The falcon spread its wings and screeched loudly stilling the last of the unsettled Xy'caerii people.

Ganna spoke smooth and clear, "Our lord has issued directions. We are to have a grand celebration and invite the people who scream at fish to join us in the feast. Valdjag'r has spoken. If he wishes us to include these outsiders in our customs and rituals to him, then we shall do so without hesitation. Tomorrow we shall hunt! Tonight, we must rest. Go, to your nests everyone. Come morning all able bodied hunters meet here at the ceremonial fire for anointing!" As she stood down, the villagers stood and began filing out of the ceremonial circle. The last to stand were the other falconers, each with his own falcon perched securely on his arm.

They moved to the center where Ganna waited by the ceremonial fire. Maka raised an eyebrow, "Sharing the ceremonies with outsiders? You dare to assume to understand the lord's desires?"

"I didn't see you rallying the people behind our lord's instructions, Maka. We are his faithful, his spirit keepers! We must uphold his word, and you sat there, chattering with all the others."

"Do not dare to presume I was not doing my job. I was handling the commotion directly around me..."

"Waiting for someone else to settle the larger confusion." Ganna met Maka's snarl with a fore-thrust of her falcon, which screeched and Maka drew back frighted. "You are conniving and you seek the easiest refuge, Maka. You are not a warrior spirit."

Maka sent his falcon into the branches overhead, "We are not warrior spirits, Ganna! We are falconers of Valdjag'r. We keep his faith and see to his rituals. Look around you, none of the others calmed the swelling storm of confusion either. It is not our place."

Ganna straightened her posture more and pointed a finger to Maka, "You mistake the place of the falconers, Maka. Keeping Valdjag'r's faith demands we lead his people. Or have you forgotten the vows you took upon acceptance into the falconers?"

"I have not!"

"Recite! I challenge you to recite the vows. You should have no difficulty if you truly remember them."

"I, Maka, swear to uphold the ways of Valdjag'r. My spirit will rise above hardship and soar with my brother the falcon. I am the eyes of my lord, the protector of my people. My cry will warn of danger. My talons will strike against my enemies. Guide my spirit, Devil in the Boughs. I am your faithful."

There was a pause among the falconers. Ganna was frowning. Maka looked proud and haughty. Another falconer stepped close to Maka and said, "You are mistaken, Maka."

Maka's pride melted into shock, "What, how dare you say so. I am correct in my vows!"

Dagar shook his head slowly, "No Maka, you forgot one line near the end. I myself only just remembered it. We are all guilty of forgetting our vows. Ganna is the truest among us." The other falconers began nodding and muttering in agreement.

Maka thrust a finger into Ganna's face, "If I have forgotten a line, speak the true vows! I demand to hear them from you. Prove you remember them all!"

Ganna shifted, released her falcon to the branches overhead and stood tall, "I, Ganna, swear to uphold the ways of Valdjag'r. My spirit will rise above hardship and soar with my brother the falcon. I am the eyes of my lord, the protector of my people. My cry will warn of danger. My talons will strike against my enemies. My soaring form will show my people the way. Guide my spirit, Devil in the Boughs. I am your faithful."

Maka raised a hand to strike. His fellows grappled him and held him back. Ganna shook her head. "I do not blame you for being angry, Maka, but it is not I who you should be angered by. Release him."

The falconers loosed Maka from their grip and Ganna stepped toward him. "Maka, you are a fine falconer. All I ask is that you learn to lead men as well as you guide your brother." She cast her eyes to the falcon perched above. "Call him. Learn from you bond. As you are linked to him, so you are linked to the rest of the tribe."

Maka lowered his eyes a moment, then raised his arm and his falcon flew down to his wrist. He strode away, leaving the falconers to shake their heads at his retreat. Ganna left for her own nest, and the others saw to preparations for the anointing the next day.

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The great hunt would go well. The hunting party was anointed and their arms prepared for conflict. This hunt would be special. First they would have to find game large enough to outweigh their strongest hunter, that would be the gift to the neighboring people who scream at fish. That kill would be brought home and prepared for delivery, meanwhile the hunt for the feast would continue

Ganna and Dagar oversaw the ritual to see off the hunters. They had been chosen by lot to be the leaders accompanying the gift on its delivery. Half the other falconers, led by Maka, would be engaging in the hunt, working with the hunters to locate and bring down the game. The rest would remain home to clean game and prepare hides and bone for other uses.

The trappers were staying at the village to man and reset any traps set off by animals scared from the nearby brush by the Great Hunt as it was underway. They would also handle any unexpected visitors by opening discourse and negotiating trade. If all else failed in such an instance, they would help lead the commoners to safety or victor over their enemies.

Thirty of the commoners had taken arms and been anointed for the Great Hunt. They were armed and prepared to face the possibility that they would become the prey while playing the predator.

The drums began beating. The falconers sent their birds to wing overhead, circling contradictory concentric rings.With a wave of their gloved hands, the falconers flew out to find prey. At a short distance, the Great Hunt followed, dropping out of the treetops and scouring the forest.

Ganna looked at Dagar, "I have a bad feeling about these people that scream at fish."

"Then we shall be on guard when we deliver the gift." Dagar smiled, "You should be more worried that Maka wants your place in Valdjag'r's favor. He is ambitious."

"Yes, but he would not face me without the rest of the falconers at his back. I fear more that he will turn his back on the falconers in a time of need and earn Valdjag'r's ire as opposed to his blessing. Maka is very foolish."

"Foolish and ambitious do not make for a good leader. With hope he will not gain a following of any kind."

"Awe. I doubt he will, but we will watch him."

From below the tree, there is a sudden cry of pain. Someone has sprung a trap! The falconers (minus Maka) turn their attention to the ground.

"Please." says one of the visitors. "We have come with food from our island to feast with you, to make friendly greetings and welcome our neighbors. One of our number has fallen into a pit. If you wish us not here, we will leave in peace. But could we borrow a ladder to retrieve our friend?"

[The visitors also pray to their god for the wounded villager.]

*grumble*

How badly is the mortal injured? And who was it? (Just as my people have the right and duty of protection, so are these people entitled to protect themselves...it didn't occur to me that I might need to point this out to them. I sometimes forget how limited mortal minds can be.)

The eldest of the visitors, a bit shaken by the unfortunate accident, falls back on what appears to be a memorized speech at the earliest convenient moment.

"Your new neighbors, the Orangkami, greet you.

"If you are amenable, we would trade with you. We bring samples of the wares we can offer, the work of our hands and the products of the marshes. We would also tell you of our patron deity Saya the Guardian.

"If you wish us not to disturb you, we will respect your wishes that there may be peace between our two peoples."

After a glance toward the pit, she adds an apparent spontaneous addendum to those prepared remarks: "I trust you realize you are not seeing us at our best, just now."

The 'injured' person is not actually hurt, but he is at the bottom of a pit nearly twice as deep as he is tall. He has painfully turned his ankle. Without treatment, it will swell, and he'll be active again with a day of rest.

That hardly seems worth Miracle-ing.

My voice rumbles through the air near the pit trap (basic illusion, not bothering with visuals):

"This injury is not severe and will soon heal on its own. Let this be a lesson unto you: I protect you, yes. But I protect you from the great dangers of the world, and keep you safe from that against which you cannot protect yourselves. While I sorrow at your hurts, I will not protect you from the small consequences of your own inattentions, that you may learn greater vigilance therefrom.

"Just as a wise parent allows a child to make its own mistakes, to suffer bruises and scrapes and thereby learn the ways of walking the world in safety, yet will prevent the child from playing with the cooking fire and will stand against the onrushing alligator in defense of the youngster--so it is between you my children, and your god.

"Ask the Tree People for a ladder, or make one yourselves, and help my hurt one out of the pit. Wrap the injured foot in soft buckskin, keep it otherwise exposed to the winter chill, but keep the rest of the patient warm; lie down with the injured foot propped up on a log or rock, and it will soon heal of its own accord. And use this enforced stillness to meditated on the virtue of attentiveness. Learn from this mistake.

"And do not fault the Tree People for desiring safety just as you desire it.

"So speaks Saya the Guardian."

The Orangkami visitors desire trade, and perhaps in future as the people get to know and trust each other, a mutual protection and aid agreement.

In particular, they would like foods from the forest and will trade foods from their home marshes. They have brought gifts of alligator, frog and turtle meat; roast leeches (no? very well, perhaps they are an acquired taste), and a flat crunchy greenish-brown substance that looks something like dried meat and something like a very thick hard leaf which they reveal with pride and call a "cracker".

In addition, stone is scarce in the marshes, and they are willing to trade finished goods from their skilled craftsmen in exchange for the tool stone they need in order to make those finished goods.

Tyros, one of the trappers, peered over the side of the treetop village railing and shouted to the visitors, "You offer trade? Very well! We shall grant you an audience."

With a gentle heave he threw a length of vine rope down to the visitors below. "Have your friend bind the cord about his waist. We will help heave him up. You may all climb the vines around the tree trunk. We will lower them to you shortly."

Assembling twenty of the villagers at the end of the vine rope, Tyros began leading the effort to heave up the injured visitor. Meanwhile Sagda, a young falconer showing promise, saw to the task of lowering vines to allow the others to climb up.

(Success on the heaving will be Rhishisik's job to decide.)

Hm, can a household lift a single man? I say unto thee - duh.

As the visitors reach the landing, Sagda steps toward them. "Greeting strangers. Welcome to Xy'ca, home of the Xy'caerii. Your man will be cared for by Tyros and some of the other trappers. Come with me. What brings you to our village?"

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Tyros examined the injured man's wounds once getting him above the railing. "We will take him to my nest. I will care for his injuries. Go, reset the trap he triggered." Three other trappers nod and leave. "You are fortunate, that trap was set for larger game than you. Fortunately you missed the spikes."

With four others the man is lifted on a litter and carried through the treetop walkways to a house hanging from the limbs overhead. Swinging slightly in the winds, the crossing into the doorway seems precarious, but practice has honed the Xy'caerii's steps and soon the man rests in a fur hammock swaying with the motion of the wind. Tyros sits nearby and seems to interrogate his existence. "What brings you and your people here?"

"'In the beginning were the Elder Gods, who cried out to Fate, saying'--

"but, no, that would take too long. Let me sum up.

"The Orangkami, the followers of Saya the Protector, come to you from the Eastern Marshes in search of trade and friendship. We offer the bounty of the wetlands which are unavailable in the trees: alligator, shrimp, crackers, and many other foods; we also offer the products of our skilled craftsmen. In return we seek the foodstuffs available here but which are difficult to obtain in the marshes, and we seek good toolstone that our craftsmen may continue to make and trade fine wares such as we bring to you today.

"We would like friendship between our peoples. This land is dangerous, and eats those who travel alone. In friendship between neighbors there may be strength and prosperity.

"If these things be not the wish of your people, we will leave and trouble you no more. If these things *are* the wish of your people as well as ours, let there be ties of trade and friendship between us.

"And also...perhaps knowledge of some way we may approach your village without risking life and limb?"

(OOC: LOL ...let me sum up... yes, please do.)

Tyros smiles. "Good to know, friend. Rest now. You will need your strength. The falconers will review your offers."

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Sagda and the others listened to the offer of the visitors. Saying a silent prayer for guidance, Sagda examined his surroundings for omens. All was as it should be. "I see no ill omens. Your requests are reasonable, we will consider what we have to offer you. Until we have had time to discuss what resources we can part with, you may enjoy our fire and our food. You have had a long journey and are in need of rest and refreshment." He ushered them to the benches around the firepit.

"As for avoiding the traps, it is easiest to avoid them by staying above the ground. Failing that, step gingerly and keep someone within arm's length." Sagda smiled and walked off glancing back. "I will discuss making arrangements with the other falconers."

(OOC: Until we find out whether we're actually continuing the intertribal play, I'm leaving this thread hanging. I'll type up the discourse between Sagda and the other falconers when I know if this level of play is necessary.)

(OOC I feel these posts for the tribes are good and should be updated on occasion to show what the tribes are doing. Guys feel free to post what you feel your tribe is doing. I will look at all activities.)