Dark Jungle - Eastern Marsh

The Sayan people, coming almost to the lake, find their promised land. As described by their deity, it is a raised mound of land in a rich marsh. They give prayers that the thing they've seen moving about under the water isn't hungry enough to attack them. The craftsmen find little stone, but a surplus of black clay that they can use for building. Many of the trees are dead, but some larger ones still have leaves.

Although fruits and nuts are lacking, there is a green algae which the witches and craftsmen declare (after testing) to be fit to eat. For meat, there are ever-present leeches (they eat us, we eat them - a reason for canoes and rafts, the second priority of the craftsmen) amphibians, and (for the hunters) gators. Although vastly different from the diet of the lake cultures, it is a balanced and healthy diet.

Although they cannot SEE either other culture, they can see the circling birds overhead, and hear the celebrations of their neighbors. By winter, their houses are done, and they are ready to explore.

Minor trivia note: the tribe call themselves Orang, but give the name Orangkami to outsiders.

Hmm...I tried this once before but it seems to have vanished into the ether.

Send a mixed Household-sized group (4 Spearmen, 3 ordinary tribesmen, 2 Craftsmen, and 1 Witch) to each of the other two tribes to introduce ourselves. The goal is a peaceful, friendly introduction in an effort to establish a good-neighbor sort of relationship and open the possibility of trade in the future. To that end, bring gifts--gator meat, handicrafts, etc.--as sample trade goods.

I will of course pay fairly close attention to each of those groups as well as the main village until they're home safe, and I am prepared to cast Miracles if necessary in order to accomplish that last. (Gah. While I recognize the current necessity, I dislike that sort of rapid "channel-flipping". It makes my head hurt--or at least it would if I had a material body.)

If I can figure out who their gods are and how to contact them directly, I will introduce myself to them via messengers in the Celestial Realm, with the same end goals in mind.

The other tribes may be doing something similar, as they can doubtless see the Orang cooking fires as well. Instruct the people to keep a watch at the village--be prepared to show hospitality if possible, but spearpoints if necessary.

(Looks over message...that appears to be more or less what I said in the first, lost message.)

Just to make sure I've got the right sets of mental imagery--

The whole "tropical jungles with dinosaurs" setting makes me think either Equatorial West Africa or else Indonesia. The description of the people as brown-skinned and straight-haired settled me in to Indonesia. Is that a fair analogue for the area we're in, or will I be misleading myself if I keep envisioning "pulp-adventure alternate Indonesia with dinosaurs"?

I got the idea it was closer to the Amazon Basin... people there are also brown-skinned with straight black hair...

Oh, right. I missed that possibility. And the Amazon Basin is yet another primo lost-world-with-dinosaurs area, as well.

It is Amazonian rain forest, minus the pirahna. Unless one of y'all wants to create them, in which case, feel free.

Those of us whose people live amongst the waters would greatly appreciate a continued conspicuous absence of piranhas, thank you very much.

(Having already set the precedent, however incorrectly, I think Orangkami names and other unique words will probably continue to be at least loosely based on various Indonesian languages. Amazonian native languages are too complex, too confusing, and too poorly documented.)

Hmm. It seems yet another tribe is newly-arrived.

Wait until one of the current "Welcome Neighbor" delegations return, and then send out another to these newest arrivals. (Don't want to drain the home village TOO dry of elites, after all! At least not until the boats are built and the Thing In The Water is definitively dealt with one way or another.)

And is it just my followers being whiny, or is it truly getting unconscionably loud around these parts at night?

Each new tribe has a single night of celebration. But yes, there are quite a few of these nights. I have no problem with the delegations doing multiple tasks in a month. It only takes one night to do a proper greeting, after all.

Okay then, once a delegation returns, off goes another to Nocturn's people. (Keep it rotated around. Give folk time to take care of their affairs at home while spreading out the risks.)

Same basic deal. Introduce ourselves, offer peaceful trade, etc. I'll be rotating my attentions between the various delegations and the home village in an attempt to become aware of any urgent needs as quickly as possible, even if the folk affected don't have time to pray for help.

when my delegation returns from nocturns people, I will probably start up my people on building canooes and rafts so that they can get around better...that is, if they havn't started already without me having to tell them too. I wonder how having 200 people in one place will go...

What with the lake being the dominant geographical feature, a couple major rivers, one of our settlements being on an island, and the observation that this setting is essentially "the Amazon basin sans piranha but plus dinosaurs", I expect canoes will be the dominant form of transportation for all of us.

My people, of course, are completely dependent on them.