Tales of History - A Civ-Builder Quest

For a while the gathered tribe discussed the plan brought forth by Wind, and none could deny that it had merit. Some even chimed in with ideas how to improve it, though other voices won out in the end. One of the matrons rose at last, motioning for quiet before she answered the hunter. "Winter will be upon as far too soon and your number is small now. If you lose, the tribe will starve as the plants wither and the snow comes for us. If you win, you will bring great glory, but the meat will not last us until those times. Either we let it rot without use or we let the plants wither needlessly that could sustain us for now. Wait until the snow has come. Let the beast nourish us when we need it the most in return for having taken so many from us."

Now it was the hunters turn to murmur among themselves, but before the proceedings could drag on, Wind cut in again. His voice lacked the earlier convection and his question sounded more like asked for completeness sake then any true need to be convinced any further. "And what if it comes for us instead to sate its lust for blood?"

"Then the wall we've build will hamper it as your spears do their bloody work. Place the arms you make around the camp and whatever beast may come to our camp, you will slay it with the whole tribe at your back." Unspoken went the implication that the whole tribe would be watching such an affair and many of those that had looked rebellious before now seemed thoughtful. Glory was what drove some of them, and much more of it would they have if the tribe would see their deeds.

With a short glance around the faces of the people, Wind nodded his agreement. "Then we will do it so. Once winter comes and our stocks dwindle, the beast shall be our quarry, but until then we prepare for it. There are many small animals in these forests and most of the larger ones travel alone and shy away from us instead of attacking with hoof and horn. Let us use the time to train some of the younger in our skills, so that they may hunt the safer game come winter."

The notion was not unexpected and neither unwelcome. Many had expressed worry about the loss of knowledge and that too few spears would be available to overcome the cold and dark ahead. Some of the younger among the gatherers had started to chase the small critters of the woods on their own already, more of boredom than true desire to catch them. Some expressed worry that it would take them away from other tasks, though in the end, the decision was nearly unanimous. Even some of the elders who felt no longer fit enough to go on the taxing trips of the hunters had chimed in and offered to lend a hand in the training effort. It seemed the worries of the past moon had passed already. No one would forget the people lost, though all felt that this hardship would be overcome.

---

The stones in the river they stood upon were both natural and the result of hard work. A while ago, some had noticed that many fish liked to rest in the shallow river outcropping that was filled with gravel and a smattering of larger boulders, especially right between those larger rocks. So a few people were gathered to spread them around a little bit more and now they had quite a few spots for a prospective fisher to stand without overly alerting his perspective prey. The only thing that still felt odd to some was that most of them were pretty much still children, not grown hunters showing off their skills. Thus the one old man of the group who darted from boulder to boulder stuck out like a sore thumb.

He had been a hunter once, until a twisted shoulder meant that he now longer had the strength to properly throw or thrust a spear. Yet his eyes were still sharp as ever and he remembered well the lessons taught to him. Not all of them he would pass on to this bunch and truth be told, they would develop all kinds of bad habits in regards to how they wielded their spears from this, but he was still pleased by his efforts. They learned quickly and after but a few days of training, they could thrust the spear with reasonable strength into the water. With the river so pleasantly clear, the only thing left for them to learn was speed and a steady aim. And patience of course, but that was a skill that could not be instilled too early or too often in his opinion.

A loud whack and a splash behind him tore him from his musings, his thoughts on patience echoing mockingly in his mind as his was tested yet again. True enough, it was the usual suspects who he saw when he turned around. They were siblings, him a boy of ten winters and the girl maybe two more, if he recalled correctly. Both of them were quite clever and eager pupils on their own, but they just couldn't stop squabbling among each other.

"And what was it this time?" he asked in a weary tone as he stepped over to them. The girl still sat in the shallow water she had fallen into, he scowl turning into a eager grin at his approach. Her brother on the other hand looked red as the evening sky and couldn't stop glaring at her.

As his gaze rested on the boy, he snapped his eyes around and began to babble quietly. "She said something... and..."

"You didn't like it, I take it. What did she say?" Somehow the boy managed to get even redder at that and as his sister tried to speak, he quickly threw some water into her face with the butt of his spear. "I think I do not want to know. However, what did I tell you about using your spear? And about making splashes in the water by, say, pushing people into it?"

He mumbled something at first, then repeated it louder at the old mans urging. "That a spear is for hunting and for fishing. That I should not use my spear on people, let alone my sister. And that splashes in the water are bad, because they scare away the fishes."

"Indeed. It would be good if you remembered that before doing something like this next time." He glanced around at the other children, who were watching the exchange like always with the keenest interest. Then he glanced down at the few tiny fished that swill swam beneath the stones. It would take a day or two for them to feel safe again and return to the stones, they tended to get scared away by their work sooner or later and a lot sooner when the children couldn't behave themselves like today. "Well, after three of you have had a bath in the river today, we might as well go back home. Gather our catches and bring them to your parents."

Just as he had finished to speak he saw it in the corner of his eye. It was not a spear as he first thought, but just a long reed that the girl had swung at her brothers feet, where she got it so fast he could only guess. The boy yelped from the quite hard hit, lost his balance and fell promptly into the river. The old man didn't know if he should show anger, exasperation or resignation on his face as he turned to the girl, who just shrugged and smiled at him. "Lesson is over anyway. And he needed the bath."

Definitely resignation.

---

As the days progressed, the tribe went back to the ease it felt on the last stretches of their great march. Even with many of the children tied up by other tasks, food was coming steadily and thanks to the bounty they had reaped from the river, they even had enough to store most of the nuts and roots they found for the coming winter. The hunters had made good on their goal to make weapons and both throwing spears and their new thrusting spears were plenty. The idea to have the younger children hunt the forest creatures had not panned out, for they quickly learned to avoid any person they saw, yet the tribe felt safe enough to trust the fence and half-trained people to defend them in a pinch, freeing up the hunters for their other tasks.

The only trouble that came was the storm that swiped through the valley. The spirits seemed intent on keeping the tribe busy and had the winds make the trees creak dangerously, throwing leaves and branches though the valley. The rain and thunder, once good signs in the steppe, was mostly something to endure here, for the meadows were lush already. Many tents had been blown over and everyone was miserable from the wetness of those two days. Some pointed out that the rain seemed to come here much more often and if the rain was plenty, so might be the stone. Since the fence had survived the weather much better then the hide tents, some began to argue to build new homes for the tribe in the same fashion.

What will the tribe focus on during the next turn of the moon?
Available Actions: 3
Food Situation: Stable (Gathering, Fishing)
Reserves: 0.5 Months
Time until winter: 3 moons
Instability ended.

Available Actions

Sustenance:
[] [Action] Go hunting.
-[] In the valley.
-[] In the mountains.
-[] Write-In
[] [Action] The small forest critters exist in great numbers, but are hard to catch. Try to catch them with traps.
[] [Action] Put more effort into gathering to create a stockpile.
[] [Action] Put more effort into fishing to create a stockpile. Unavailable, due to lacking preservation techniques.
[] [Action] Look into replicating the methods to preserve food you have heard about from other tribes.

Resources:
[] [Action] Make new tools from the strange stones for the entire tribe. (Bonus to Gathering efficiency.)
[] [Action] Try to figure out a way to fell entire trees.
[] [Action] While the wattle makes for sturdy construction, it does little to keep the rain out. Try to find a solution.
[] [Action] Investigate the mountains if you can find other useful things.

Construction:
[] [Action] Your tents are ill suited for this places weather. Begin making more sturdy and permanent homes. (Takes 3 Actions total, can be spread out over multiple turns.)

Other:
[] [Action] The spirits have shown their hand again. Try to find ways to appease them.
[] [Action] Explore your surroundings further.
-[] Follow the river into the valleys.
-[] Go towards the sunset.
-[] Explore the mountains.
-[] Write-In

AN: Fishing income is a good bit smaller than that from gathering, since your methods are still quite labor intensive and the river doesn't have infinite fish in easy to reach spots. You will get a small, passive income from it and as long as Gathering also goes well, you get a bit of stockpile out of it by consuming the fish immediately and instead storing plants.

From here on please always vote in plan format. The tally seems to gets hiccups otherwise.