From Stone to the Stars

[X] War! Send all of the People's hunters.

Tempers had flared hot the night after the raiders came. Accusations were thrown around freely and carelessly. The amount of damage done was limited, but everyone had lost a sister, a cousin, or a brother. The People were one family, even if some family was more family. Each person lost to spears and arrows or taken into the night was painfully felt. More than a few of the People had to be pulled apart and physically separated in order to prevent violence from breaking out.

Alvar felt ashamed, but he was one of those voices. It was he that had suggested plying the wolves with meat and blood, working them up until they chased the People and feasted on the corpses of their enemies. His mind had instantly jumped to the risks, but he didn't care. His younger brother was dead; not even old enough to count his age on more than two hands and his skull had been crushed under a club. His sister was gone, torn screaming from their home and taken.

Even thinking about it now made his skin burn. Hot enough that even diving in the Crystal Lake had barely been a momentary shock.

Regardless, the Elders had quickly spoken up and shown everyone how foolish they were being. The wolves might acquire a taste for human blood, they'd argued. They could be lost on the journey north, after all, none among the People knew where the raiders had originated from. The hostages that had been taken by the raiders could easily be savaged by mistake.

Still, the bloodthirsty suggestion had elevated Alvar in everyone's eyes. It had been foolishness, but a type of foolishness that the tribe now appreciated. Something they needed in the moment. Alvar knew that he was no great speaker, not someone who could turn others to his cause with but a few words. As a speaker, he was painfully average. Not good, but definitely not one to embarrass himself in front of the People. But, he knew that the moment was on him. It was like in a hunt when the animal had drawn so close it was about to sense you. That was the moment to strike, to hesitate and it would be gone.

"We should go," Alvar said. "All of us. The hunters. Right now, the raiders think they've bloodied us. They're going to go back, rest and recover. Once they've done that, they will be back since they will think us weak. They will raid us again and again, taking more plunder and more captives. Everyone knows that you not leave a wounded beast be. That is when they're at their most dangerous."

"Wounded beasts also sicken and die, boy," a middle-aged hunter cut in. "They bleed to death. We will not. Who are you to presume to lecture us? To lecture the Elders?"

Pulling off his antlered helm, Alvar stepped up to the hunter. The man was bigger than him, fully grown compared to Alvar's own teenage height. He focused on the man's jaw, before winding up and smashing skulls together. The older hunter dropped, and Alvar grinned, easily ignoring the pain radiating through his skull.

"Anyone else?" he called. "It's the duty of everyone capable to defend the People. Everyone has the privileged."

Value Gained!

Hearing a grunt from the hunter, Alvar spun, drew his club and slammed it into the oncoming knife. A quick jab with the Whitestone head of the club silenced any further protests. "Pack your bags," Alvar ordered. "Bring extra food, one—no, two weeks. We'll need to bring food for the People we bring back. Bring pots for water. We leave at first light.

His heart hammered as Alvar quietly walked away. There was nothing more he could've said in that moment. The next day, when all of the men, every one who'd undergone their Trials, except for the Elders showed up, he relaxed. He could do this.

The hunting party of the People cut to the north, but did not cleave closely to the river. Alvar knew, the raiders would keep watch, at least for the first few days. This did not have the feel of something that they had tried only once. When you struck a herd, every hunter knew to be careful. A downed creature could easily have a friend to strike you in an inopportune moment.

It was two days before the first spotted the raiders, retreating north in their strange hollowed logs. It was only the fact that they were going north, struggling against the current that allowed the People to catch them. The raiders were still vigilant, though, so Alvar restrained the hunters and let them go further north. The river was too wide to hit them immediately. Too far for someone to shoot a bow across and all it would take for the raiders to win would be to make it to the opposite bank. They could set up with their bows and arrows and there would be nothing the People could do. Swimming across would just get them shot helplessly to pieces.

He'd had to... enforce discipline a few times before the opportunity presented itself. On the evening of the 4th day, the raiders had settled down on a forrested island in the middle of the river. It was a defensible point and they clearly knew it. And that made them overconfident. They had stopped for the evening and set up enormous bonfires. The captives were sent to cook while the raiders partied, feasting on stolen food and cheerfully shoved stolen women around between them. Young, low status males were forced to the outside of the group, obviously on watch; forced to wistfully watch the 'festivities'.

It destroyed their night vision, though, and that was all the opening Alvar needed.

"We swim over there in groups," Alvar ordered. "Some to the north, some to the south. Be quiet. After we've all moved, loose arrows. Three men to a target since we outnumber them. Aim for the ones outside, and when the catch on, charge."

Every child of the People knew how, growing up playing in the Crystal Lake, but never before had they swam with death watching. They were all hunters too, the raiders didn't even notice that death stalked them. Arrows knocked, Alvar watched as his men loosed once, then twice. Men dropped dead, riddled with arrows on the first two volleys. The third clued the raiders in, cries went out and weapons were drawn.

Alvar let one last arrow slam home into a raider's eye, before he charged. "Blood! Blood!" he howled. The first man to come against him carried one of the raider's strange, slim two-handed long clubs. He swung wildly, obviously expecting it to smash bone. Alvar just let it come and bounce off the orker skull on his chest. The long club recoiled and the raider winced. Winterborn's club slammed into his head, bursting it like a ripe grape, and ending any discomfort that caused.

Running up behind another, the Winterborn easily slammed home his knife into the base of the raider's skull. He knew he found the third raider when a club slammed into the back of his head, and sent Alvar tumbling down. His antlered helm cracked, but it kept his brains in his skull. His club whipped wildly around and found the man's knee, sending him down with a crack and a scream. A second blow to the chest just made him scream harder. Alvar kept smashing, but it was only once he'd crawled within reach of the raider's head that he finally stopped.

Grabbing a fallen spear, the Winterborn centered himself, trying to find any more knots of resistance.

There were none. All of the remaining raiders were in flight, diving into the river swimming to try and get away. Many he saw on the ground, most dead, but a few only injured. Some of his men lay dead too, but far, far fewer than he feared. A few of the captives were dead too, but fewer even than his hunters. They had run in the fighting and the raiders were too busy figuring out what was going on to slay them. The entire engagement had take only moments.

"Alvar!" his sister shouted, pulling him into a hug. Blood and filth clung to her, but all Alvar could do was smile.

Than smile turned icy when he looked at the retreating raiders.

Alvar shouts:

[ ] [Raiders] "Pick up your bows! Draw and Loose!" Leave none alive.
[ ] [Raiders] "Let them run." Kill no more.

Greeted as a Hero on his return, what lessons did Alvar take from leading the People in battle?

[ ] [Hero] Focus on the Defense (Build Ramparts)
[ ] [Hero] Focus on Detection (Expand Wolfpacks)
[ ] [Hero] Focus on Martial Skill (Promote Folk Wrestling)
[ ] [Hero] Focus on Increased Population (Increase Hunting)

What else did the People Focus on? (Pick 1)

[ ] [Action] Expand Wolfpacks
[ ] [Action] Create Annual Festival
[ ] [Action] Increase Hunting
[ ] [Action] Explore
[ ] [Action] Study Travel
[ ] [Action] Establish Waystation
[ ] [Action] Found Holy Site
-[ ] Creek Bed Battle
[ ] [Action] Investigate Whitestone and Berrystone
[ ] [Action] Raid
- [ ] North Lake Tribe
[ ] Promote Folk Wrestling

Do the People move as the years pass by?

[ ] [Go] No
[ ] [Go] West
[ ] [Go] East
[ ] [Go] South (Too Dangerous)
[ ] [Go] North (Too Dangerous)