OOC: This is a placeholder from Oak for the beginning of Glantri's first thread, run by Krillis, continued from GO.  :)

In time to come, we may well want to copy the GO thread's posts into this slot, but for now, interested parties can see what has happened at this link:

http://gamingoutpost.com/talk/...s-going-first-verse/

Go ahead and post below, Glantri, and welcome to RPoL!  :)

EDIT: GO thread posts have been copied below.  Enjoy!  -- Oak :)



















































This message was last edited by the GM at 22:19, Sun 09 Mar 2014.

Ooc) Thank you for setting this up, and glad to be here.

My last post copied from GO, as requested, is below:

OOC) Sounds good to me.

IC) I practice the caveman language constantly, but also try to consistently push it’s boundaries. I’ll try to get across the concept of time by referencing the sun rising and falling multiple times. In general I’m just going to try and get them to start thinking about the abstract.

Any time a member of the link community shows interest in the hut I’m making, I attempt to communicate that I plan to lash the wood together in an effort to provide shelter, much like the cave they live in naturally does.

I’ve made a wall segment from rope and logs before, but never using vines. I intend to braid three vines together and use those as ropes. I don’t trust any individual vine not to break.

In the coming week I’m going to try and find a source of lamellar rocks (the type that fracture to sharp points, best for arrow heads and spears) I want to make 3 spears with rock heads, and show the links how to use them and give the community 2 as a gift.

I’ll also want to kill a few frogs and cook them and share the cooked meat.

I think I covered everything that was posted, sorry if it’s somewhat disjointed.

OOC: It's all thanks to Oak. I was just getting fed up with not being able to access GO reliably.

Welcome to Worldwalker.

IC:

You find that you don't need to practice much, as they're eager to communicate with you, since Big Link has let up a little bit as he's become more accustomed to your presence. He still doesn't let any of them out of his sight, except for the female link who visits you by your fire in the afternoons, but he does let some of the little ones socialize with you.

They all seem somewhat interested in your hut, but when you try to relate it to the cave, Friendly Link seems confused. She looks at the beginnings of your hut, then at the cave she lives in with the rest, and doesn't seem to understand the point you're trying to make.

By the water, you find several types of rock, which you test and discover one type that fractures with satisfactory results. There seems to be more than enough to make the entire group of links spears if you wanted to fashion them. When you craft your spears, you make one of modest quality, while the thers you attempt to make that day just break. The following day, your attempts are more successful and you've got two spears of modest quality and one slightly better. Who do you intend to give them to, of the list of links I gave you?

Catching frogs is much harder than the cavemen make it look, and you fail to catch any, but Friendly Link offers you a nice fat one when she notices how poorly you're doing.

OOC)Thanks, glad to be here, it was getting increasingly difficult to access GO.

IC)I'll give the best spear to Big Link, and of the 3 modest ones I'll give one to friendly link, and 1 to Adult Female Link and keep the last. I'll attempt to explain how to use them, both by demonstrating a sample thrust (away from everything as to avoid harm) and using their language.

I'll thank friendly link for the frog. When I get back to the camp for the day I'll start cooking it, and share it, making sure friendly link gets the first slice as she was kind enough to share the frog with me.

After I finish the hut, I'm going to get as many broad leafs as possible and lay them on top of the roof as an effort to keep water from falling through.

I'll also make a spear for each link, if they are well received.

I'm attempting to appear as happy as possible to the links, but as the days pass I'm starting to grow more concerned with just how little I understand what's going on. There is a part of my mind that is incredibly interested in these links due to what they could mean for the scientific community, and focusing on that is helping me not think about the fact that I'm lost, or have an ability I can't explain, and am at a loss of how to resolve either of those points. I am confident I will, and I reassure myself of that constantly, but it is starting to grow more worrisome.

My primary hope is to get my communication ability with these links high enough that they can start explaining some abstract concepts, so that I can ask about the surroundings. To that end, I'll be trying to specifically get across the point of if they know where others like me are, or in general what's in the area.

OOC: Yeah, I sent a message to Brock that he should head over here too, but we shall see what happens.

IC:

You're fairly certain that you gave them a good example if they ever were to try to use the spear in the future, and you're confident that they won't accidentally stab themselves or anyone else with it. Big Link actually nods his approval to you. They start carrying the spears with them to the watering hole every day and walking back with them. They use them as walking stick mostly, and drop them to do their hunting in the water when they're looking for frogs or small mammals.

The day with the frog is the first one that the links invite you publicly over to eat with them, and you think it might be because of the scent of tasty frog on a stick, until you smell it yourself. Still, you offer it to them, and they gobble up the frog, smiling from the warmth of it. Big Link especially likes the food, and pulls you over to sit by him when he has his first (the second) slice of it. You're confident enough to talk to him regularly now, and he seems the one who most understands you. You briefly flash back to almost always seeing his eyes on you when you've been trying to communicate with the other links.

This becomes part of your regular routine. While they still eat raw food at the watering hole, you cook some food upon your return and everyone eats together at the entrance to the caves. No one but Friendly Link has ventured over to your hut and fire yet, but you can tell you're welcome in their company now.

You manage to fashion the roof to your hut, which you aren't overly confident will keep water from coming down without more work, but it looks pretty solid if there happens to be a light rain.

During one dinner by their cave, Big Link engages you in conversation in the caveman talk of bodily posture, grunts, and some pantomime that you've been using. He asks "Frown?" He touches your face during the pantomime, drawing you away from your thoughts of home and the situation you're in. Everyone is still digging into their food, except for Friendly Link, who is watching you and seems to be waiting for your response to him.

I'll smile when I realize that Big Link has been paying attention to my communication attempts and even more when I realize how well it's worked so far.

At the conversation with Big Link, I'll feign a half hearted smile after he points out my frown, and gesture towards the link clan, and then towards myself, and motions about getting swept away. Trying to communicate I was part of a larger group of my kind, and I have since been lost to them. I'll also gesture to my hut and try to convey there were tons of structures we lived in. Probably the most difficult concept I'll try and get across is that while I miss them, I do appreciate the acceptance by the links, and the help.

My next project for helping the links will be to try and make net traps out of the vines and set them up near when the frogs live. I'll also keep an eye out for fruits and vegetables and start collecting their seeds.

When you start explaining your basic story and your feelings to them, all of the links stare at you and pay attention. Many of the teen-adult links become wide-eyed when you make your swept-away motion in relation to your people, and you see Friendly Link begin to tear up. In the end, you aren't completely certain that they ascertained your thankfulness to the link family, but when you're finished, Big Link on your left and Adult Female Link on your right wrap you up in a warm hug, in which the little ones join in after.

After the group hug, Big Link finally asks if you'll show him more of your hot place-your fire and invites you afterwards to join them inside of their cave instead of the tree-cave that you're making.

While pantomiming, are you also communicating in words or do you stick with strict grunts, body language, and pantomiming for communication?

OOC:
I'm ready to skip ahead a big, perhaps a month possibly based on a GE roll for what events might occur over the course of that month which may interrupt it.

So, if you want to tell me long-term plans for that duration, we could potentially skip ahead after this scene is completed.

Skills:
+@1 to Language: Caveman
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:23, Sat 08 Mar 2014.

The group hug and overall acceptance convinces me I have to put away all the negative emotions. I'm lucky to both be alive and have a society, even if not the one I'm used to, to be a part of. I will use this as a moment to focus on when sadness grips me, and hope what has happened will become clear in time.

I will happily show big link the fire, and when they invite me inside I communicate I would be happy to join them, but we should move the fire circle stones inside. It'll keep the cave warmer and allow easier cooking even during rain.

I'm communicating in English at all times, partially out of fear that I will lose my ability over time otherwise and partly to give the links the opportunity to learn.

Skipping ahead to the next big event seems fine, I'll just outline a couple of projects I'll take and the order I want to do them over that time.

1. Find a waterfall to clean myself.
2. Make some knives from the same stones I made the spears from. Primarily for use in slices frog meat and carving wood (important for some of the next steps)
3. Use a knife to hollow out logs and split them, and arrange and tie them down with vines to form a gutter system.
4. Get a number of large logs and try to burn out the center over a fire (letting it catch fire in the center and putting it out with water before it spreads through most of it. Then use the stone knife to carve out the center, making a bucket
5. Make more buckets and start placing them under the gutter so we can collect rain water.
6. Find seeds of fast growing edible plants and plant some near the cave, water regularly.
That should take me a good while, and my actions past that depend on how much the links like the additions and if any of the links have any requests. I will make a point of explaining all of this, both in their language and mine, any time interest is shown.

By the end of a few weeks, you still haven't located a waterfall; however, the stream that you and the rest normally go to, while shallow, is usable to clean yourself daily.

You notice that the stream's water level, while already low, is starting to drop.

You craft a few stone knives of varying quality for yourself. The links don't seem extremely interested in those, and they begin losing interest in the spears that you made, primarily using them for walking sticks to the stream and back but otherwise throwing them to the ground upon arriving at their destination.

You establish what you believe would be a functioning gutter system, but rainfall never comes over the course of the month. You have three wooden buckets set up for when it does.

You start a small garden, too, by planting some cores from some of the jungle fruit into the ground near but not too close to the cave with the hopes that they'll grow into trees. The only others would be the bush-fruit that you pick daily, and you start trying to grow grape bushes too.

You communicate in English while you're doing your caveman/pantomime talk, and Friendly Link starts to take an interest in some of the things you're saying, sometimes attempting to repeat sounds that you make into a crude, consonant-heavy and extremely basic form of English. She says things incorrectly the majority of the time, and has trouble remembering words past a conversation, but you can tell she's trying hard.

Finally, at the end of the month there's still strangely been no rain, and you find your normal stream gone one morning when you and the link family visit it. The ground is still damp, but it's no longer running water. They all seem upset, but Big Link has a very worried, and a little bit scared, expression on his face.

I help friendly link through the English words when she tries, and make sure to be encouraging of the effort.

I'm happy that the link tribe is still carrying the spears. My primary concern is to have them in case of large animal attacks.

When we get to the dried up stream I'll go over to big link and try to comfortingly communicate we should head upstream. At some point there will be water that hasn't dried up yet. Although we may need to find a cave up there until another wet season arrives.

Big Link shrugs, and looks like he's somewhere else in his mind for a minute before he looks around at everyone, and back at you. He replies "Yes. Big water. That way." He gestures to upstream, but still seems distressed about it for some reason.

Still, he starts to walk that way, and the other links follow. Adult Female Link joins him in the vanguard, something she normally doesn't do, and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. She, as well, seems troubled by the prospect of searching out this big water Big Link pantomimed to you.

Friendly Link seems anxious, watching Big Link and Adult Female Link, but she picks up one of the littlest links and walks beside you.

I start growing concerned based on his trepidation of big water, but maintain a confidant look knowing that some links may look to me.

While walking I'll keep an eye out for predators and also try and ask friendly link if this has happened before?

I also want to ask big link if there's something special about big water. He seems more upset by it than I would expect.

The part big link said was in pantomimes and such right?

Yes, Big Link was pantomiming. You've noticed that he hasn't taken a great interest in verbal communication like Friendly Link has.

Friendly Link has no idea. She says "No," in English and pantomimes that nothing like this has ever happened before.

When you question Big Link, he seems reluctant at first, but then Adult Female Link tells you. She pantomimes it all. "We big family. Then big family sweep away him (Big Link). Me. Now, small family."

You encounter no predators along your path yet. What all did you take with you? Did you pick anything up from the camp before moving out with the rest to Big Water?

I'll encourage friendly link when she uses no correctly. Want to be clear it was used the right way.

When I  hear the links story I sympathize greatly, and communicate how sad I am to hear that, and that I will do anything I can to keep us  all safe and together.

I would be taking my hiking backpack that had my stuff before we set out, as I don't foresee coming back here too soon, and also my knife and spear.

The rest of the links come with you back to your camp, so that you can gather your things.

Once you do, your whole group sets out with Big Link at the head.

As your group travels, you see that Big Link becomes more and more distressed as you go, though he hides it well while he looks forward constantly, occasionally comforted by Adult Female Link.

Your band of merry links continues to travel for hours on end. After about five hours of travel, with a couple of fruit-picking breaks as individuals get hungry and you happen upon a fruit-bearing tree or bush, you finally encounter something else in the jungle.

Ahead, looking back at you and your links, you see another male link walking around the woods, see you and Big Link up front pantomiming to one another, and the stranger freezes in his spot, staring at your group, waiting.

When I see the other male link, I'll ask Male Link if he knows that other link and if he's friendly. If so I'll suggest we communicate, but I fear I wouldn't be well received as one who is different.

I'll suggest Female Link or Male link asks where the new links tribe is and if there is water nearby. Explaining our plight. That is if they think he's friendly. Otherwise try and go around him.

Unknown Male Link watches you as you try to communicate with him, but makes no response to you. He instead is looking at Big Link, who also has an impressive stone spear in his hands.

Big Link touches your hands gently to stop your pantomiming and communication efforts. He walks forward, chest puffed, toward the Unknown Male Link with his arms held a little wide, making himself a larger, more imposing presence.

When he starts walking toward the Unknown Male Link, the Unknown Male Link turns and starts jogging in the opposite direction. Big Link relaxes once more. While he still seems concerned, he looks like he's feeling a little bit better now for some reason.

He continues leading you and the links in the direction that the Unknown Male Link fled.

Male Link seems to have a plan and know what he's doing. Following along quietly for now, being particularly vigilant about if anything is watching us. If so let Male Link know, otherwise just follow his lead for now.

Worth noting is I'm using my spear as a walking stick like many of the links have been, but staying ready to use it if needed to protect myself or the others.

OOC: Understood concerning the spear, but let me clear something up real quick. When you're saying Male Link, are you referring to Big Link or the Unknown Male Link that just ran away from your family of links?

Meant big link, sorry for the confusion.

OOC: No problem.

IC:

You don't feel any eyes on you or see anything until you reach a section of the jungle now where the trees start to thin out just a little bit, and you come upon a great tree that looks like it towers above the rest and has a diameter twice the size as the rest you've seen through the jungle.

Here, there's a small clearing, but you feel weird, then you notice link tracks in this area, some signs of a shelter and children nearby. And you see one shadow peeking out of the edge of the great tree, like a figure about your height is hiding behind it.

You put a hand on Big Link's arm, which stops your group from travelling. The younger links are still making some noise, giggling at one another, but you have Big Link, Adult Female Link, and the teen female links' (including Friendly Link) full attention.

I'll motion towards the shadow by the tree, trying to get big link to understand or at least point his attention to it enough for him to see the shadow. I'm trying not to be overly obvious to whoevers shadow it is though, so using more subdued motions than I normally would in my pantomimes.

When you say signs of shelter, is it constructed shelter or more in lines with inhabited caves and such?

When I typed shelter before, that was a mistake. What I meant was that this seems to have a lot of link traffic that you're familiar with back at the other link camp you've been living at. Foodstuffs on the ground, footprints, and other signs that links have been inhabiting this area.

When you point out the shadow to Big Link, he takes a position in front of Adult Female Link with you, and the rest back off. He's staring at the shadow, and he raises his walking stick a little.

Then, he seems to reconsider something and looks to you, asking you in pantomime to lead-what do you want him to do?

Ah ok. That makes more sense now.

I'm a little confused by the last sentence there. Is he asking for me to lead and approach the shadow? Or is he asking what I think he should do and to stay upfront with him.

If he's asking me to take the lead, I'll step forward towards the shadows and both pantomime and say (mostly to help myself along), the river has dried up, and the rain has stopped. We don't want conflict and hope to live in harmony.

If he's asking what I think he should do, I suggest he explain the water leaving, and suggest we join together in the dire times. And male sure to appear strong but not threatening. But I'll gladly walk by his side.

You got the feeling that he was trying to ask your opinion more than encourage you to step ahead of him, but he keeps you by his side as he approaches the tree widely, and calls out with a loud grunt to those hiding behind it.

There are two male links with tight, lean muscles all over. One is in his 30s and the other in his late teens or early twenties. They look at you and look at Big Link, faces clearly angry and ready for a fight, but the Big Link beseeches them through the pantomime that he's learned from you, and throws in some of his own to talk about the stream. He explains that the stream has been washed away by dirt and that he must go to big water, or his family could die. He asks if he could walk over their place where they sleep.

The two males look at you and Big Link again, and the younger one looks up at the older one with fire in his eyes, but the older puts a hand on his shoulder and pulls him out of your path. You believe that they intend for you to cross, and Adult Female Link and the rest follow Big Link through.

As you're walking through their home, you see more signs of their living there, and finally you see in the root structure of the enormous tree, a tiny head sticks out that you remember. It's the small link that you protected from the wolves and hid in a tree with your first night here. There are other young and female links hiding in there too, but this one hops out and starts running at you, despite the grunts of his whole family toward him and you.

I'm glad to see the influence I've had on big link, and relieved violence looks to have been avoided.

When the little link from before runs to me I'll crouch down to be at eye level with him, and pantomime and say that I'm glad he's safe, I was worried for a while.

I'll also gesture to my next and communicate that I healed up fine, and appreciate the company he gave me when things weren't looking good.

But most importantly I'm keeping all of my body language at this point friendly and welcoming. Don't want to annoy any of this boys tribe, or scare them.

He doesn't seem to understand what you're pantomiming, but he continues to rush you and jumps into your arms when you come down to his face level and start trying to communicate with him. He squeezes the air out of you easily-very strong for such a little fellow.

The other tribe of links start for a second when they see you touching their family, but they stop and look closely to you and the little link. While they don't seem relaxed, it feels like they've gotten the impression that you mean no harm.

Big Link and the rest watch you hugging the strange child link, but wait patiently for you to finish.

The Child Link doesn't seem interested in letting go any time soon, but when he finally does, he grabs your hand and starts pulling you around their camp in the tree, grunting and showing you things in the most basic caveman language. Like: "Look, tree. Look, big rock!" He drags you up the big rock, which isn't the easiest to climb while holding onto the link's hand.

But he shows you that off, in a little bit of a distance, you can see a larger clearing, where a great river runs directly through. It's slow at this part, so you don't feel like there'd be any fear of drowning, but the river is still moving, so it's probably safe to drink from as well. It's a beautiful view, and he smiles widely as he looks up to you for a reaction to it.

I'm thrilled to be shown around, partially still just very happy the little guy made it and is ok, and  also out of genuine curiosity of their culture and what Child Link finds important. I will have to explain to my Link tribe what's up after Child Link is done showing me around.

When I see the  great river my face is both a combination of joy and amazement. I find nature quiet beautiful, and am beginning to be hopeful that this move for the Links is for the better. If I can broker good will between the two tribes they could both benefit. But yes, my face is one of pure amazement.

When I get back to Big Link and Friendly Link I'll explain that Child Link was the first one of their kind that I met, when I first got here, and that we were attacked by wolves but managed to get away. I'm very glad to see him safe.

After you and the little link are done, one of the females you don't know takes him in her arms, where he reluctantly settles down while watching you join the others.

Friendly Link smiles when you explain how you know the boy, while Big Link is all business. "Good you know boy. This family no problem. Bigger family. Bigger than me family is problem. At Big Water." He seems reluctant to move at first, but he begins leading his family once more in the direction you saw the large river in.

It's beginning to get dark, and you're starting to get rather parched.

I nod at what Big Link says, and agree we should get moving.

I'm just following Big Link for now, trying to stay  strong and not show how thirsty I'm getting. I am a little nervous about the bigger tribe though. I was feeling better when I thought it was this one.

Finally, after striking out through the darkness just a bit longer, you hear the sound of water moving, and then only a little farther, you reach the clearing that you saw and the wide, steady river there.

You and the rest, with a last burst of energy, run to the water and start to drink it. While your legs ache from the long walk, you can still move and stand. You're sure you've never tasted water as clean as this. It's bliss, especially on this warm night under a sky full of stars above you, the first you've seen of the night sky since you woke up naked in the jungle.

The rest of your band don't seem to worried about anything right now, but they huddle up just a little bit away from the water and sit down to finally rest.

I definitely take my time hydrating myself, just glad that we made it, and that there is a chance to rest.

At some point while resting I'd like to talk to Big Link off to the side and ask him what he was worried about previously? Should I be keeping an eye out for something? Also I'll suggest we find a place to temporarily set up that's less out in the open, although that can probably wait until tomorrow.

You take Big Link to the side, and he seems to understand. He sighs, and takes his spear to start drawing in the soft clay at the edge of the river for you to see. With pantomiming, drawings, caveman grunts, and you notice even some attempts at English (mostly failed), Big Link conveys a story to you.

He draws a family of links, one of whom he points out to be Adult Female Link. Then, on both sides, he draws two large links. One has a big family with him, while the other is alone. He draws both grabbing for Adult Female Link, and a fight between the drawing of him and another large link. He draws his defeat, and sweeps away the rest of the links and their families, all but one. He leaves behind Adult Female Link, who joins him. He conveys to you a great confusion and gratefulness behind her choice, and he draws them living alone and growing a new family of their own.

But he points back to one of his other drawings, of Big Link and the other who beat him. He points to the victor who overcame him, and explains through pantomime that he's the one that you all need to watch for, because of his association and influence with the larger link tribe, which has probably only grown since Big Link and Adult Female Link's banishment.

He nods at finding a new temporary home for his family, and looks around, pointing to the treeline in the direction that you came from.

I'm encouraged by the attempt at English.

After the explanation I'll be reassuring that we'll all get through this together, and that I would imagine the majority of the larger tribe would understand. And if not, we'll all stand together by his and Adult Female Links side.

I follow along  in the direction Big Link is pointing.  I run everything he said over in my mind, multiple times. I feel sad for Big Link to have that much trouble but also happy that he found Adult Female Link.

"Thank you." He says, unsure for a second if he said it right, so he caveman talks it to you as well. He seems genuinely grateful that you're willing to help him after knowing them for such a short time.

Everyone finds a soft spot to settle down in the treeline instead of the open space by the river, but truly they're just sleeping cuddled up with one another against a tree with no real shelter. Still, they seem content with it.

I tell Big Link, both in english and pantomimes, "You said it right," smiling "and you're welcome."

Before getting to sleep I'll get a small fire going, making sure to take precautions to prevent it from spreading, but I do want the links to be able to be warm and to keep away predators.

After the fire is started, stay up with it a bit to allow others to fall asleep, and then let it die down to embers and go to sleep myself.

Refreshed but tired, you make a safe fire, and the rest of the links stay semi-close to it but far enough away that there's no fear of anyone getting burnt. They all stay clumped up in a large, cuddly ball in which they sometimes squirm away from one another in their sleep.

You watch them for a while in the fire, and see Big Link wake up at least three times in twenty minutes before settling down and starting to snore loudly with the rest.

After a while of staying awake, you've let the fire start to die down, but it's still going on stubbornly for now. Then, you hear some rustling and twigs snapping in the loose forest around you. It's still late at night, but with the aid of your fire, you can see the outlines of five male links, one of whom is as big as Big Link if not bigger. They form a semi-circle and are approaching your camp. While all are lithe and muscular, the biggest one looks impressively strong. In the fire, you can see sour expressions playing across their faces.

When you turn your head to face them, the biggest one growls and smiles menacingly at you.

I jump up when I realize what is going on, grabbing my spear and rushing to Big Links side, shaking him awake and then adopting a defensive stance of the group, attempting to put myself in between who looks to be the alpha link and the tribe I'm with.

Since I wish for peace, even though I doubt it will happen, I communicate that we mean them no harm, but I will not let them hurt this family.

I will jab the alpha link with the spear if he disregards me and continues advancing.

They may be larger and outnumber me, but I have an element of surprise in what the spear is, and rough knowledge how to use one (only in so much as the academic principles to thrust behind it and use the increased reach to my advantage.  I won't be pulling any punches with it either, as I hope a strong enough display if they don't head my warning and come closer anyway will make them think twice. At least long enough for Big Link to wake the tribe and organize a retreat.

With spear in hand, you rush to the other members of the family. You shake Big Link thoroughly, who seems to begin to rouse, but you can't keep watching him as the five advance on you.

The Alpha Link steps forward, and you step forward too, brandishing your spear at him to keep them away from the link family. You are sure that you convey the message you intend, and the other four links stay back while Alpha Link approaches you.  He falls into a different position upon his approach. His arms are held a little apart, his hands open and facing you. When he continues to approach, you jab your spear out hard, hitting him in his right ribs with your spear.

He moans at the strike, and gropes at his side where you struck him. At the moment, he seems preoccupied staring at the blood, and at your stick with a rock on it.

Big Link has now roused, and the others as well.

I back up towards Big Link, keeping an eye on the 5 intruders but mainly Alpha Link.   I'm staying battle ready with my spear but trying to ask Big Link what we should do. Indicating I'm at his side should a fight come.

If in the process of backing up to Big Link, Alpha or any of his buddies decide to advance on me, I'll jab at them again, proving how effective spears can be at deterring charges and such.

Also if Big Link decides that battle is required I'll fight by his side, doing my best to protect him. Deferring to his lead though, as he knows these links far better than I and can make the call if a fight is needed.

You and Big Link take defensive stances in front of the rest of Big Link's family. He's disregarded his spear entirely, entering a stance very similar to the one that Alpha Link had when approaching you.

You see Big Link's eyes lock onto Alpha Link's, and growls.

Alpha Link, who has been preoccupied with the wound that you gave him, stops looking at the blood on his hand and growls back at Big Link, baring his teeth at him as well.

While most of the other intruder links are watching the scene transpire, one link next to Alpha link steps forward, close enough that you can identify certain shared features between him and Alpha Link. He sees the blood on Alpha Link's hand, and the wound that continues to bleed openly, and pulls Alpha Link by his arm.

Alpha Link resists, him twice, glaring at him once as the younger link tries to pull him away. He gestures at the injury frantically, but Alpha Link brings his massive hand up and smacks the younger link across the face, sending him stumbling back. Then, he continues to watch you, Big Link, and the now-bloody spear you wield.

He turns his back to you and Big Link and starts walking away, his entourage apparently following in tow.

The younger-looking version of the Alpha Link already has a bad bruise forming on his right cheek while he stares at you. You can tell that there's some anger in his eyes, but mostly it's intelligent curiosity about you. He seems to identify something about you that you haven't seen any of the rest acknowledge yet.

They all begin heading at a slow walking pace into the dark.

I feel bad for the link that gets smacked by Alpha Link. Doubly so when I notice his curiosity.

After Alpha Links crew is gone, I'll take the moment to check with Big Link to confirm everyone's alright. I'll also suggest that everyone finishes getting some sleep, we'll still need our rest for tomorrow and Alpha Links will keep them busy for now.  We should do rotations of guards though. Had I not been awake when they approached, and managed to wake you (big link) up, there could have been problems.

I'm also not mentioning it but I am hoping for validation in the actions I took. I clearly found them necessary, but also wish I were able to talk  Alpha Link down or towards peace.

While Big Link doesn't say it, you can tell that he feels grateful to you for waking him and doing most of the work to protect his family.

He encourages you to sleep now, because he's already slept for a while.

Sleep seems to be hard to find when you see the rest of the link family beckon you to join them in their huddle of bodies, where the littlest ones have already gone to sleep and are snoring softly. Big Link gestures with your head for you to join the rest as well, and pantomimes that he will wake you if anything happens.

This time, Big Link has his spear in his hand while he sits up and away from the rest of you, awake.

I'll join the rest when Big Link suggests, but stay on the outer edge and have my spear near me in case of an incident.  And then I'll go to sleep, hoping that all is well.

Sleep doesn't come easy for you, but you're a little comforted when you're in closer proximity to the rest. You definitely get the feeling now that they've accepted you as one of their own.

Eventually, sleep comes and you wake to the sound of birds chirping through the trees, the sound of the river a little ways off, and you see that Big Link is still sitting in the same place, awake, and diligently watching your surroundings. Already, daylight's strong with the morning around you and the rest of the still-sleeping links, some of whom you see are sprawled a little closer to you during the night.

I'll get up and go sit by Big Links side. I'll suggest he gets a little rest before we start the day, as the little ones are still asleep anyways and I can take over the watch. I imagine today will be a busy day.

If he doesn't want to, I'll still sit by him while the others wake up, and talk about the type of location we'll be looking for. Finding another cave would be ideal, I think.

Whenever we make it to the stream to drink, after drinking I'm going to clean my spear. Making sure to be downstream of the others, just want to get the blood off and also to find a stone to use as a sharpening stone on it. If I'm going to protect this family I'm going to have to stay prepared.

Big Link shakes his head in your fashion, "No." He stays diligent, and actually doesn't seem to be extremely tired from staying up the vast majority of the night. The air is humid this morning, and a little chilly too, but you're warm enough under your clothes and you noticed from last night that the links' skins are a little warmer than yours.

You talk to him about finding a new home, and he nods his assent, concluding that if it comes down to it, you could build a cave for them out of trees, right?

No other intruders appear while you're waiting for the rest of the links to finally wake up. They wake and walk over to you in order of oldest to youngest, until finally the littlest male link is awake. There isn't much communicating at all like there was yesterday, and the family of links just overall seem a little more down, so dissimilar to when you all finally reached Big Water last evening.

You clean your spear, and then you see more links begin to head out of the forests. They start trickling in as small families come to drink the water while the little ones play and try to catch frogs and fish in the river.

Of course, the family you're with do the same, but they stay isolated from the rest and Big Link is constantly sending threatening and nervous looks to the other links who come to Big Water.

I smile and stay encouraging as Big Link  uses English and some of the non verbal communication I use.  I nod and communicate that I could do that, but it will  require some time to make it strong enough.

When the other links start coming out to the river I'll go to Big Links side and suggest we try and be peaceable rather than immediately threatening. While we should be clear we will stand and defend ourselves, in the long term it would be good to be on most of their good sides. Especially since I believe the number that means us harm or dislikes us is fairly small.

I am keeping an eye out for any of the 5 intruders from the night before though.

Big Link shrugs at you when you talk about being nice to the other links. He looks like he's about to try talking to you about it when you spot links you recognize from the other night. A large family, including Alpha Link who still walks tall despite his injury, which is still present and very swollen. Three links break off from their group, who continue to the river. Alpha Link breathes deeply when he sinks his torso into the cool water.

The three links that break off are the younger link whom Alpha Link struck last night. You see now that he looks very similar to Alpha Link. He could even be family, possibly Alpha Link's nephew or son. He approaches you with two more young, muscular links walking on his left and right flanks.

He stands tall, and makes large strides towards you and the other links, but stops, eyeballing your spears and stopping well out of the spear's reach. He grabs the other two by their arms to stop them from going any closer, and stares.

When  the three links get closer, I'll try to communicate that I mean them no harm, and am only acting in defense of this tribe. I try to ask what their intent is, and try to suggest a way to avoid future conflict.

I'm hopeful that this younger link (alphas son or nephew) is intelligent and curious enough to avoid trouble. I'd rather not have to be hyper vigilant at all times. And while I'm not threateningly brandishing the spear, I am going to be holding it so that if I need to use it in a hurry I could.

So you do a combination of grunts, pantomimes, and a little bit of English thrown in when you try to communicate with Younger Alpha Link, who stares at you intently as you do.

The other two next to him watch him for a lead, seeming to be a little impatient as you two continue to try and communicate. After a struggling five minutes of you pantomiming and Younger Alpha Link trying to pantomime back, you believe that you learn a little bit more about communicating with these jungle links.

Finally, Younger Alpha Link seems to understand, and expresses similar sentiment. He does come in peace, but his father does not. He explains (Link Talk), "My father was wronged by your friend, and his family is spawned from that wrong. While you then wronged him as well, wronging the rest of the tribe that drinks from this water."

You notice during your conversation that, while he keeps his eyes on you, they often drift over to the rest of Big Link's family, who are watching from a distance.

----

1@2-->1@3 Talk Caveman

+5 Familiarity with all jungle links (all your attempts to communicate now will have a +5% chance of success). Familiarity represents your increased ability to understand how they think and thus you're finding it easier to communicate with them.

+20 with Big Link and Friendly Link, by the way, due to your more-frequent contact.

"So what do you propose? There is a great drought downstream, so we aren't going back soon. Also why do you find that I've wronged your tribe in simply defending mine? Your father acted aggressively, and sought violence. I acted in such a manner as to keep the violence to a minimum while keeping my tribe safe. I wish to see the anger and hatred put behind us, so we can focus on improving everyone's lives here instead of worrying over internal strife."

---
All looks good to me, will update my character sheet next time I'm on my computer.

He scrunches his brow after you form your argument, like he wants so much to articulate to you what he's feeling. "He attacked my father first by stealing her (points to Adult Female Link). My father sought to face him and make it even again, then you wronged my father by biting him with your branch."

But he takes in your argument, and softens some, looking into your eyes. "You are...right, though. Attack at night, while he slept...my father was angry, it isn't our way. But we must make it even for the past wronging that he (Big Link) did to my tribe. We must make it even, for everyone."

You see his eyes drift back over to Big Link's family, playing in the water, and linger there briefly, until you look back and see he's staring at one in particular, who is sitting alone with her feet in the water. Friendly Link.

I let out a small sigh of relief when he softens slightly. These are good signs, both for a potential peace and for how logical he is.

"Before we even talk about making things even, I want to be clear that there won't be any forcing of people on either tribes side. From what I have heard, Big Link fought for Female Link, and lost. Female Link then made the decision to go with Big Link instead. To balance that, and action must be willful and happy at this time. I see you have interest in Friendly Link, and we won't force anyone to do what they don't want to. But with Big Links permission I would be happy to introduce the two of you, but you must be nice to her, she is a good friend and I won't see harm either physical or emotional come to her."

"Further, if such an arrangement does come about, after some time to make sure it is agreeable to both sides, the two tribes would have to make sure to live close to one another so that neither side has to endure being cut off from their family. While it was a hardship Female Link and Big Link endured, it isn't necessary to repeat that part."

Big link is here for all of this right? I'm looking to him periodically to make sure I'm not overreaching my authority.

You seem to slowly be convincing Alpha Link's Son, but Big Link steps in and growls low about the arrangement. "No." He says, in English, and continues in caveman. "No. My family, mine. You can't take. I challenge to keep her!"

Alpha Link's Son glares at him now, "You can't challenge. She is old enough, and you are her father. Besides, you could never challenge again. You lie, wrong us and hide like muddy toad in riverbank!"

Big Link steps forward and the other two next to Alpha Link's Son shift into a fighting stance that you've seen them take before, with their arms raised and heads lowered.

Everyone all four of the links are growling at one another now, and look ready to fight.

I'm going to step in between Big Link and the other three and plead with both of them, in the combination or caveman language and English I've been using.

"Please stop, violence isn't going to solve anything here."

And then turning to Alpha Links Son,
"May I have a few moments to talk to Big Link? I would very much like to see a peace between the two tribes, but I need to be able to speak candidly with him to make sure what is an attempt to soothe bad blood doesn't cause more. It should only take a few minutes"

If he agrees, I try and get Big Link to come over to the side with me to talk

I explain that I think Alpha Links Son is looking to promote peace, but at the same time can't completely counteract his father. He also looks genuinely interested in Friendly Link, not as a means to get even but as an attraction. This would allow our family to stay close enough to visit Friendly Link daily, more as a union of the two tribes as neighbors than a tribute to pacify. Also I fully expect the decision to be left to Friendly Link. If she doesn't want anything to do with this then we find anther way. But the option should be given, and I believe we should allow Friendly Link and Alphas Son to meet, and see how they respond to one another.

The others step back just a short ways, and stare suspiciously at you and Big Link while you address him.

Big Link is still staring at Alpha Link's Son, and growling low in his throat. You forcibly move his head to meet your gaze to get his attention. When you start to speak to him, he interrupts you, "No! My choice! My daughter-my family. Mine, and they won't take her; you should understand. You're one of us too!"

He still looks angry, and pushes you back in the direction of the three. You keep your footing, though, and he continues, "Or maybe you're better with them, talk to him like he's family!"

He seems like he's gotten the attention of many links in the area now, and you notice that Friendly Link and Adult Female Link are both approaching from the river. At the same time, you notice Alpha Link wading out of the water, looking at your interaction with Big Link.

I grit my teeth slightly after being pushed, but force myself to stay calm, reminding myself of the potential importance this will have on the tribe.

"You should know in not trying to take away your choice, just trying to point out where anger towards his father may be coloring your perspective. But you are right, I am one of you, and you have my full support and I will follow your lead. I just believe the ideal of peace between the two tribes would be worthwhile. Is it acceptable to you if we try and come to another arrangement with him? Perhaps try and exchange some knowledge I have for a peace between the tribes?  I'm not sure it would work, but either way, I'll follow your decision as we can't have such obvious signs of discord here. Can you quickly describe what this challenge system you have is by the way?"

At the end of that I put my hand on Big Links shoulder, to be comforting and as an expression that I'm there to help.

He shakes his head, "They don't want tree-caves or teeth-sticks. They want woman, to replace the one that I took from them."

The women have almost reached you, when he comes closer to describe challenges in the way that Alpha Link's Son is talking. "Challenge is like you want woman, fish, and I come up and want woman, fish too. I challenge you and take it. We fight. Winner walk away with woman, fish. Loser walk, sometimes crawl away with instead bruises, pain." He pauses...then looks down and seems almost ashamed.

Then the women are there, and Adult Female Link puts her hands on Big Link's chest in an attempt to calm him like you are, while Friendly Link places a hand on your shoulder and seems concerned as she looks between you and Big Link.

He's probably right that knowledge wouldn't be an adequate trade, but I still believe it's worthwhile to mention. I also realize I could probably challenge by their rules... but I would surely lose without a spear.

When Adult Female and Friendly Link come over, I'll start explaining to Friendly that everything will be ok, I just didn't understand some things well enough and spoke wrongly. Big Link has corrected it for me though.  Making sure to have a comforting smile. We're ok now though, and I don't think there are any hard feelings. After communicating the last part I'll turn to Big Link for validation of that.

After both of the females are convinced Big Link and I are Ok, I mention we should still finish our conversation with Alphas Son, and extend the offer of my knowledge as a compromise. I agree that Big Link is probably right, but it shouldn't hurt and will at least show we would like to see peace between the tribes

As long as he doesn't agree I'll go over, either with big link or by myself, whichever he would prefer, and explain to Alphas Son that the terms wouldn't work, but I could offer a resource they're much scarcer in than women, and that is showing them how to build caves where they want, and work with them on making the lives for everyone in the tribes better. I promise my knowledge can be quite useful.

I'm hoping that spins it enough that alphas son, who I believe to be abnormally intelligent, would be intrigued. Even if he doesn't accept it as a terms of peace, maybe that he'll later seek it.

Big Link nods at you, Adult Female Link still soothing him by keeping close. Yes, you're cool.

While Friendly Link isn't sure about what you two were discussing, she takes you at your word that everything is okay, and just nods. "Good," she says.

Big Link doesn't seem interested, and encourages you to talk for him. He explains that he doesn't trust himself around Alpha Link's Son, and that he might end things in the violence that you're afraid might happen.

Friendly Link, on the other hand, stays close while you go to the side and talk to Alpha Link's Son and his entourage.

When you walk over to discuss with them, they back up as you approach until they're farther than your spear length away. Alpha Link's Son looks a little angry, glaring at you briefly, and at the links who are standing a bit away-Big, Adult Female, Friendly.

You sign to him that you want things to be well, but that you have better things to offer than just a woman. He cocks his head to the side, and nods with a little confusion when you talk about building caves. "But...we have caves. What else can you give us?"

I smile when Friendly Link says good, I felt bad when I had worried her and the tribe.

With Alphas Son I'll communicate that I can help them make nets to catch fish easier, and fire to stay warm at night and to cook food on, and they have enough caves now, but will they as the tribe grows? I can also teach how to make objects to carry water, or other objects to make food gathering easier as well as ways to grow plants in convenient locations, and ways to keep unwanted creatures away from the food you grow. These are all unique things, that I believe you'll be hard pressed to learn otherwise, and all I look for is peace and good will between our tribes. I believe it would benefit both sides to have friends instead of adversaries.

In trying to stay friendly looking, attempting to not notice how angry Alpha Links son is. Hopefully he sees in honestly trying to help.

He seems to be paying attention while still fuming over the interactions you had earlier.

Then, suddenly his eyes are sharper on you when you bring up keeping unwanted creatures away from the camp. "True?" Suddenly, you see the gears spinning in his head and he looks excited.

"Teach me to keep creatures away, and we let you and the others stay. Keep woman, I will challenge for her later, but tell me about keeping creatures away. Teach me."

He steps within your spear range, and shoos his entourage away. They return to a close part of the river, where one picks up a young link child and holds him while the other pretends to look around the river, while he's clearly still eyeballing you and Alpha's Son talking.

"Please, teach me. And the tooth-stick too!" He points to your spear, excitedly.

"We'll have to cross the concept of a challenge later, for now let's focus on building a communal relationship between our tribes."

"Let's wait on the tooth stick. I know a fair number of ways of keeping creatures out without direct violence, primarily fences and walls that will stop easy access and keep wolves and the like away. They're much more reliable than tooth sticks, not to mention there are a few concepts I'll have to explain first, some of which are also covered by building walls."

I point towards the tree line and motion that I need to show him the types of supplies to gather. I'll show him the type of straight sticks he'll need for fences and walls. Then I'll show the types of vines I would end up using, and start lashing together a small wall segment, with longer sticks every 5 sticks or so, allowing it to be driven into the ground. I'll explain it builds either a wall if you make it high enough, allowing to extend the safe area around your cave, or low just to keep wolves and other creatures out, from a garden (and explain the idea of growing plants near your cave strictly for harvesting).

This will take a fair amount of time and during which I'll inquire into his tribes hierarchy, and whether he will eventually be the leader or if they tend to branch out and form new tribes? I'll explain I'm new to the area and don't know many of the traditions.

I'm assuming friendly link will stay by my side, and if so I'll casually make sure to stay between her and Alphas son.

He's fine with putting that off. Your interests in protecting people are more important to him at the moment, it seems.

"Fine. Later." He replies, concerning the tooth stick.

He doesn't seem to understand what you mean when you're talking about walls, but he's interested in seeing your work rather than investing in it for now. He gathers a few of the little ones to help you and him gather some supplies.

What sort of wall are you interested in building? His interest is more in you showing him by making these things rather than teaching him the process of it, but he doesn't argue against making a small garden or bigger walls.

Also, do you have any experience building walls or fences? How long do you think it would take, and where do you currently want to build it?

You bond with Alpha Link's Son while talking this over, and he doesn't seem to understand your confusion over their social structure. Alpha Link is his father, yes, and the strongest member of his family or tribe, but by no means is he in charge of the entire (new word here-closest you can tell is "clan"). But, like some other members, he commands respect due to a combination of his size, age, and physical prowess. One day, Alpha Link's Son might be like that too within the clan, but he just wants his own family to grow and protect and love, like anyone else would.

While you're talking to him about this, Alpha Link's Son asks you about Friendly Link while she's away at one point, wondering if you're going to be fighting for her too, because it almost seems like she is already yours the way she and Big Link act around you.

I've put together simply lashed fences before,  which is all I'm trying to do for this walls. A bunch of  sticks with rope holding them at the top center and bottom, or in this case using vines.  I'll be making one that's 3 foot tall or so,, and likewise I'm more interested in showing him how than talking about it.

I imagine with the help for gathering 2 hours would be good enough to have an small section of wall that we can drive into the ground near the edge of the clearing around the water, at which point I'll demonstrate how a shorter statured creature like a wolf wouldn't be able to get in. I'll also mention that with much more work taller walls can be made, and roofs that provide shelter from the rain by putting the walls horizontal and covering them with leaves.

For the garden I'll get a fruit, and use my pocket knife to cut it open and take some of the seeds out. I'll explain they should be planted in the ground and watered, and some of them will grow plants that can be tended. It'll take time, but the benefits of reducing how much of the day is required in gathering is great.


I nod when he mentions about everyone wanting a family, and explain the reason I know so little about the culture is not to long I got separated from mine. I'm still adjusting here and trying to figure out things.  But I owe Friendly Link and Big Link a lot for taking me in, I would almost have certainly died otherwise.

When he asks about Friendly Link  I'll  admit I'm not sure exactly. Where I come from women make their own choices, and physical violence to prove oneself is frowned on. While I respect all the decisions here I must follow my own customs. That said, I will fight for Friendly Links right to make up her mind for herself if I felt like that was being threatened. I do hope to remain friends in either case though, as you seem very intelligent and I think the two of us could bring great times of prosperity if we worked together. Possibly bringing together more of the link kind to work in harmony.

After that concept, I do want to touch back on the idea of the spears. I'll explain that I just want to be clear they should only ever be used in self defense or for hunting for food. I don't want to introduce something that will turn challenges deadly or start inter tribal conflicts. I'll express that I hope he agrees.

You're able to erect several yards of wall that day, which Alpha's Son isn't entirely impressed by. The small wall and the garden both seem to disappoint him a little bit, but he sees the merit of the small wall, and is interested in the prospect of increasing the wall's height.

Moving on to the topic of Friendly Link, he doesn't agree or disagree with you concerning Friendly Link, but agrees strongly that the spears have no place in challenges for anything. "And if you and me were ever to get into a challenge," he smiles, slapping you on the shoulder, "I'd have the fish, but you wouldn't be too beat up after."

Still, you feel that he respects your attachment to them, and reassures you that he will do his best to keep Alpha Link under moderate control, but he returns to the wall subject. While smaller creatures like you're talking about are a problem, he tries to explain that the real danger comes from bigger monsters, especially across the river.

Then, you see something glint in the corner of your eye as you're working on the small wall.

I smile with his comment about the challenge and respond that I'm glad to hear it on both counts.

I'll also express thanks with his attempts with his father and express I will continue doing all I can in the name of mutual benefit and friendship.

When he mentions the bigger monsters, I tell him I didn't know of any, and ask if he can describe them. I will also convey we should arrange a trip to find one at some point so I can see it and try and identify a way to safeguard against them. But strong walls are a good start.

I'll take a quick break from the wall construction to investigate the glint that catches my eye. Is it like a metallic glint? What can I find in the area it came from?

He goes into great detail about the bigger monsters, stressing horrible eyes and long teeth as long at a forearm, hair covering all of them. Like wolves on all four feet, but bigger...and with beards...

But the glint, which does seem very metallic, shines into your eyes briefly. You stand to find its origin, and see that it's beyond the river, and peeking out at the top of the opposite river bank's jungle tree line.

Can I tell anything about the source of the glint or is all I can make out at this distance that there is something shiny on the other side of the river high in one of the trees?  Asking for clarification because I can imagine a number of scenarios that are fairly different (those being a creature that's slightly taller than tree line when standing tall, with very reflective eyes, same thing but with a yeti sized creature that's climbed a tree, or a mirror/metal object that's located in a tree and the sun caught it right.)

Obviously depending on the distance I may not be able to determine which, but wanted to be clear.

When Alphas Son goes through the description, I'll ask how tall they are? Just general sense, larger than the links but under twice the size, multiple times the size, tree size, etc. Also do they tend to be alone or hunt in packs? And have they ever been known to cross the water and have we ever seen one die or be hurt? These all should help me form a defensive plan.

I'll get alpha sons attention and point towards the glint and ask him if he knows what that is.

It's poking out above the highest part of the treeline you can see. So, its source could be set on the highest part of the tree, but when you look at it, you're pretty sure it's coming from a higher place farther away.

He holds his hand up above his waist, and his description seems like the entire creature is larger than most links, but under twice the size. "I have never seen them kill one of us, but those who did say that they never see more than two, and almost always only one." Thus far, none of the survivors have successfully killed one. The only ones that live are those who flee.

He looks at the glint with you, but falls short of understanding. "Small sun on top of the mountain?" He doesn't seem to entirely understand what the glint is, but sees that it does reflect light. He proceeds to explain that there's a big hill, possibly a mountain, past the jungle in that direction, but none of the links have travelled that way since the big creatures started hunting across the river.

"I think I can help get us, both of out tribes, to the point where we can fight back those beasts. In the coming days I'll work on fashioning a spear for you, and we will train together.  They are only useful if you know how to use them. Once we're proficient there we can start training a group, so that we can fight off the monsters and claim some of the land on the other side. That would allow all of the tribes in the area to live better, with more resources harvestable. And eventually, I will visit that mountain. If that light is a useable resource we should know. But those are plans for the future, let's focus on the coming days.  I should be getting back to my tribe, we still have work to do in order to have shelter by tonight. I suggest starting to plant seeds near your home, and building a small wall. The exercise should be good practice for the larger walls I'll be helping you build."

Assuming that it's agreeable with him to call it a day, I'll head back to Big Link and try to coordinate finding or starting on building a home here. I'll also ask him if he would agree to start training me in the style they use for challenges.

Alpha's Son agrees that all of that makes sense, and walks back to be with his own, family to relay things to his father and the rest.

When you return to your tribe, Big Link is very eager to help you start learning how to fight immediately, and is actually a little surprised that you and your brothers and sisters didn't start practicing when you were much younger.

OOC: It feels like we're moving into a time jump here. What things are you looking to accomplish in the immediate future. This includes training-I see Spear training with Alpha's Son and Caveman Fighting with Big Link at the moment. I also see building a small wall and possibly making more spears for the larger tribe to have for the future.

Concerning the wall: A challenge I can already see is on what scale are you intending to build this wall? From being at the river, you can tell that there are several families that live in this area, most likely with various shelters in the jungle but close enough to walk to the water source. Is it only going to be around your own smaller family's shelter, and will it be a combined, longer wall with the Alpha's family or individual ones?

I'll explain to Big Link that I came from a very small family in comparison, and the focus was on using tools, like the spear I made, over fighting. I'll also thank him for agreeing to train me, and mention we should also train with the spears, so that he'll know how to use them proficiently. I'll him know about my plan, and Alpha Son's support in working together and fighting against the monsters on the other side of the river.

OOC: I agree it's a logical place to have a time jump. I'm looking to do the spear training with both Alpha's Son and Big Link, although I want to do those separately as I don't believe they would work well together yet. Also the Caveman Fighting, building walls, spears and also planting seeds in fertile areas.

I'm thinking of a combined longer wall with Alpha's family, although eventually it should be extended to everyone, so I'm going to keep that in mind during construction so it's an easy addition later. I'm also going to focus on using sizable logs, as if this is to keep large animals out they may have to withstand large forces against them. Same concept though, just larger scale than the garden fence.

I'm also going to suggest to Alpha's Son that we begin offering to other tribes elders to build the wall to include and protect their tribe as well if they like, as a sign of universal good will. I don't feel right offering it without doing a joint offer from Alpha's Son, as this knowledge is part of the agreement we came to after all.

I also want to teach Alpha's Son about fire, and the merits of cooking food, and staying warm, but also to always clear a generous area so that it doesn't get out of control. I'll show him how to build fire circles to contain them.

Finally, I want to make sure to spend some time with Friendly Link, trying to find out what she thinks of the situation.

Big Link doesn't take to the spear idea very well, but he insists that you know how to defend yourself. He doesn't equate the spear with that mentality, like Alpha's Son does.

While Big Link will help you practice occasionally, he's always more interested in practicing their fighting style instead, and eagerly teaches it to you. He shows you how to enter the style, and you try to copy him as much as possible. It's a technique that relies on grappling the opponent and constricting movement as much as possible, which he does to you quite easily the first time. Then, he manages to twist a little to place your neck against the inside of his elbow, and squeezes slowly to constrict airflow until you almost pass out.

He slows things down for you though, and teaches you a couple of techniques that could help you fight larger opponents like him. One is a Slap Attack, where you use your hands to assault the opponent's face to stun them. Another is the limb-restricting maneuvers that are very difficult for you to escape from. Finally, he teaches you how to properly position yourself to choke the opponent to maximum effect. The last, you feel, you learn a little bit better than the other two attacks.

During the first week you're starting to expand the wall away from Alpha Son's home toward where you've erected a shelter for Big Link and the rest of that family, you start to understand the circle of life for these links a little better. Upon reaching a certain age, approximately Alpha's Son, generally that link grabs a female to mate with and finds new shelter for their own family to begin. Therefore, there are many small families out there under one larger tribe and one even larger "Big Water Clan". Currently, the wall is being erected around Alpha Link's den, while Alpha's Son's will be somewhere else when he picks a mate and moves.

Alpha's Son takes to your fire and cooked foods very well, though he doesn't seem confident about experimenting with making his own fire quite yet. He often visits you and Big Link's family during meal time, when you dish out cooked toad and fish to the links. He often tries to sit near Friendly Link as possible, but sometimes settles with one of her sisters or wherever Big Link will let him sit (usually next to you).

Friendly Link expresses gratitude that you'd be willing to fight for her; however, she doesn't understand what you're fighting for. She can't mate with herself, and the point of the challenge is that someone claim her as a partner, so that she can go with him to bear his children. You get from her that she admires Alpha's Son, but doesn't like that his father quarrels with her own. You also understand from her that she admires you too, though very much for the fire and your cooked foods rather than physical prowess that Alpha's Son obviously possesses.

Alpha Link causes no problems, but glares at you and Big Link often. Thus far, neither he nor any of his (other than Alpha's Son) have made any attempts to interact with you or any of the others in Big Link's family.

OOC:
1@1 Caveman Wrestling Style B7@1
Description: Cavemen wrestle one another to the ground to impede the enemy’s movement and choke the other. Some might incorporate the use of teeth and fingernails in dire circumstances. Most practitioners of the style use it to pin the opponent and then restrict airflow until the opponent passes out or dies.
Style Multiplier: 2
+5 DV
+10 MSV
1@1 Slap Attack B7@1: Gives user SM/10 DV bonus for the round.
1@1 Pin Attack B7@2: Restricts limb movement of opponent, who must pass a difficult strength check to escape.
1@2 Choke Attack B7@3: Victim must pass Stamina check to stay conscious.

I don't push the issue of him learning to use the spear better, mainly wanted to offer. It is a standing offer though and I'm happy to teach him when he wants.

I make sure to be appreciative of the training Big Link is giving me, and pay as much attention as possible. I'll also do strength exercises in the morning (various modified push-ups and pull ups using a sturdy tree branch.) I'll need to get stronger and have better endurance, coupled with better technique to stand a chance, or at least not be humiliated.

Good information to know about their culture.  Are the most respected members of big water clan easily identified? And are they simply listened to my most of the tribes heads or so they seem to have an authority. One of my hopes is for Alphas Son to rise to such a position. He's shown to be very intelligent, and understands compromise and that violence isn't the only method. A lot of good could be done.

Have I seen anyone ever cross the river for any reason?

I'm always happy to see Alphas Son stop by for meal time, Big Link will need to have time to accept that Alphas Son is not his father, and this is a good situation for that to happen. Not to mention I want friendly link to have time to interact with him, so she can know whether she enjoys his company and would be happy spending her life with him.

When Friendly Link doesn't understand what I mean to fight for I'll rephrase it, referencing how her mother chose her father, not based on the results of the challenge, but based on who she wished to be with, or so I understand from the story. That is how things work where I'm from. Mating is a decision between two people, not the prize of a fight. What I intend to fight for is your right to pick any male that likewise wishes to form a family with you. So even if I were to win the challenge, I would wish for you to choose who to go with, even if that is Alphas Son.

I'll also talk with her about how alphas son is quite intelligent and learning things quite quickly, much like she does. I'll also mention how much he's working towards the ideal of peace and group cooperation. I see very little of his father in him. (At this point I consider Big Link, Friendly Link, and Alphas Son my closest friends here, and I very much wish to see them get along. I'm thinking the easiest way to get Big Link to look kindly on Alphas son is if Friendly link starts showing interest. I'm also looking to dodge Friendly Link becoming interested in me as a mate, as I'm quite committed to my girlfriend and have not given up on solving what's going on and getting home. But I also don't know how to explain that to them)

I largely ignore alphas glares. Nothing I'm going to do about them, and I need only hope that he sees the good I'm doing for his tribe and his son.

Big Link says that he's happy to help you, and he starts talking more and more in English with you, since he can tell that you like that more. Still, he's butchering grammar, word choice, and pronunciation so badly most of the time that you can't sometimes tell if he's even saying what you think he is until he pantomimes it to you. He reassures you that while strength is important, often times the quick conquer by getting the opponent in a choke hold quickly.

You see that one of the most respected members is Alpha Link. He's big, tough, and you're starting to think that he is where Alpha's Son got his intelligence. He watches you and Alpha's Son when you practice with the spears, and talks to Alpha's Son afterwards. It's obvious to you that Alpha's Son is very popular with his own generation, but there are other tough contenders who have tried to take some of his food and challenged him, only to be defeated quickly and cleanly. Among the influential members, you note that they're for the most part very good at challenges and generally are patriarchs in their families. They stand watch over the rest, and families stay close to them and watch for their leads often.

Thus far, you have not seen any of the links that live near you cross the river. Whenever one of the little ones go too far out, their mothers pull them back in before the water gets too deep. You aren't sure if it's because of the water or because of what's across, though.

You explain to Friendly Link how you're trying to free her to choose her own mate, which she looks to ponder intensely. Talking up Alpha's Son, though, seems to have a positive effect. And one day, Alpha's Son makes a point to thank you for helping him like that. While he wants Friendly Link, he doesn't want a mate who isn't interested in him in return. It makes for unhappy families, ultimately.

OOC:

I have you training the following things:
Strength Attribute
Spear Skill
Caveman Wrestle Skill
-all of the Caveman Wrestle Maneuvers

You find that you have enough time still in the day to practice at least one more thing on top of these, if you want to.

I'll start working on my agility, practicing by climbing trees and going on runs,  as I take Big links advice to try and be quicker. So that's the additional  area I'll be training.

Has alphas son seen me communicating in English with big link? And if so does he look curious or has he asked?

Have I seen any challenges since I've arrived? I'm curious how they start and how formal of an approach it ends up being.

I smile at Alphas Son when he mentions he wouldn't want a mate that doesn't want him in return. I explain I'm happy to say what I think about him, as I respect him and consider him a good friend.  I also explain that I will still need to challenge when he does, although I'm challenging for her right to make the decision. I personally believe the best decision would be him though.

Alpha's Son hasn't taken an interest in you talking with Big Link at the campfire, as he's usually occupied trying to communicate with Friendly Link there. She seems to have warmed up to him a little more.

You've seen a few challenges between random male links end after just brief shoving when one cedes to the other, but you've seen one drawn-out and bloody challenge ending in a lot of bruising and one fighter passing out. Alpha's Son has been in a few as well since you met him, during which he pins and releases his opponent as the opponent starts to pass out. He fights with a smile on his face, and seems skilled.

You stay and spend the vast majority of your time training your agility and strength while practicing as often as possible with Big Link and Alpha's Son for a little over a month, when the small wall is finally erected around Alpha Link's and Big Link's homes.

Because Big Link's family has been only expecting you to cook the food they catch and Alpha's Son is so occupied with learning how to Spear fight with you, you have plenty of time to throw into training your Caveman Wrestling skill and your strength skill to prepare you. You know you're still no match for Big Link's strength and skill yet, but you know you've greatly improved nonetheless.

+@2 in all Caveman Wrestling skills, +@5 in the skill itself
+@2 in Spear
+@2 in Strength
+@1 in Agility
+@1 in Hand/Eye

Then, as you and Alpha's Son are practicing with your spears one day, one of the links you've seen with Alpha Link-one you recognize from the night they attacked you, picks up your spear while you're taking a break, and gestures to you that it belongs to him now.

Alpha's Son just watches you as this unfolds, relaxing against the tree he was already sitting against.

Everything that happens over the month looks good to me.

I immediately get the impression that this link trying to take my spear is orchestrated for Alphas Son to see my reaction. Most likely to see how I do in a challenge, or how I approach them. Well best to not disappoint.

I'll get up and walk over to the link who has my spear carefully, making sure to be ready to dodge to the side if he jabs at me,  and explain that spear is mine, and if he is patient when Alphas Son and I are ready to start training others I can make him one of his own. But he will not be taking mine.

If this ends up going to a challenge, I'll drop into the wrestling stance right away and try to get into position to choke attack. I'd rather end this quickly. I intend to fight until either he concedes, I'm unconscious or he is unconscious.

He asserts again, simply, that the spear is already his, then throws it down and drops into his own wrestling stance. He spreads his feet to shoulder-width, bending the knees slightly, and spreads his arms out as well, palms facing you. It's the same stance that Big Link taught you to take up.

You fall into the same style very easily, your muscles themselves just putting your limbs in the right places, and you examine his style, which from your perspective looks sloppy immediately, so you go in for your choke attack to end things early.

When you move in for your fast choke attack, you overshoot and he manages to duck under it. He comes at you from below with an open palm, aiming straight for your face. In the midst, though, he lets out a grown, and throws the assault way off target. He misses your face entirely, and the momentum turns his back to you, leaving him wide open for another attack.

OOC:

Just noticed I missed some things for the Caveman Wrestling Skill. Should instead read as follows:

1@10 Caveman Wrestling Style B7@1
Description: Cavemen wrestle one another to the ground to impede the enemy’s movement and choke the other. Some might incorporate the use of teeth and fingernails in dire circumstances. Most practitioners of the style use it to pin the opponent and then restrict airflow until the opponent passes out or dies.
Style Multiplier: 2
+5 TV
+10 MSV
1@5 Slap Attack B7@1: Gives user SM/10 TV bonus for the round.
1@10 Pin Attack B7@2: Restricts limb movement of opponent, who must pass a difficult strength check to escape. Otherwise, the opponent’s entire TV is disregarded in combat.
1@5 Choke Attack B7@3: Victim must pass Stamina check to stay conscious.

While he is open to another attack I'm going to try for the choke attack again. Not much better position than with his back turned to me.

If I miss that the next round will be to try to pin him, followed by a choke.

Ooc)that makes a lot more sense now, before it seemed going straight to choke was always the right decision as long as you where ok with them passing out. Now there are clear advantages to each approach. I like this style.

"Gah!" He shouts, as you leap onto his back and firmly secure your arms in a simple, but effective choke hold that Big Link taught you.

He drops to his knees while he pulls at your arms, trying to pry them off of his neck. He almost wraps his fingers once inside of your arms, but you squeeze tighter, and his pulls die down to simple slaps against your forearms.

After a little under a minute of choking him, he finally stops entirely, and passes out.

After he's passed out I'll let go an ease him into a resting position on the ground. I'll go and pick up my spear and put it down near a tree and rest there while talking to Alphas Son.

"So, since I'm assuming that was as much a test of me as anything, how did I do?"

Smiling during this, obviously not upset at Alphas Son and happy to have my first challenge succeed.

Alpha's Son smiles, but doesn't admit to anything. All he tells you is that it's good to know that you're able to defend you and yours without a pointy branch.

Then, he adds before heading back to the river that it won't change anything when you and he finally duke it out.

Then, suddenly, you hear loud screams coming from the direction of the river.

OOC:

+@1 Caveman Wrestling
+@1 Choke Attack

I start to say I imagine it won't, but then hear the scream and jump up, grab my spear and run towards where the screams are coming from. I do take the time to motion that alphas son should bring his spear. I'm assuming he is with me on this.

His spear's already in hand, and the two of you dash as quickly as possible out of the woods, past the tree-family, and to the river, where you see a large jungle cat, which resembles a sabertooth in shape, but has smaller teeth with orange and red stripes along its sides in stark contrast to its otherwise white coat.

You see Big Link and his family in the vicinity watching the events unfold.

But you arrive, and see the tiger biting down on one of the male link's torsos and dragging him, now unconscious, back along the river to a spot that looks like a natural sandbar (or equivalent) where the water level may have lowered and created a natural bridge.

A female link is nearby, holding a child and screaming at the tiger, who is ignoring her.  Others are fleeing, some looking on, and Alpha's Son not missing a beat as he continues to run toward the tiger.

I motion to big link to get the tribe to safety and move in with Alphas son, but moving to flank with the saber in between Alphas Son and I.

While moving into position I'll communicate that whoever the cat is focused on needs to focus on dodging, and whichever one the cat has his back to goes in for the strike.

And that's my plan. Move in, flank, and kill the cat.

If that takes care of it I'll immediately go to the injured links side and apply pressure to the wound. I'll ask alphas son to send someone to get large leaves and vines so I can keep pressure applied. How bad does the bite look?

You hastily sign to Big Link as you run, and Alpha's Son gains more ground while you do so, in the direction of the saber. He seems to intimately focused on the large cat that you aren't sure if he catches your plan when you run up to flank it with him.

You see the cat swat at Alpha's Son once, its prize still in its jaws, when Alpha's Son stabs it hard in the leg with his spear. By then you're running up with your own spear to join in the fray.

The saber lets out a loud yowl when its struck by the spear, dropping its victim in the low, riverside grass. It rears and swings strongly at Alpha's Son, who ducks under its attack and continues to harass it with his spear as you move behind the saber.

The saber turns to you briefly, but focuses another attack on Alpha's Son as you land another strike near Alpha's Son's in one of its hind legs, where it's now bleeding.

The saber doesn't yowl this time, and instead turns sharply and strikes you with its enormous paw across your chest. You feel the air leave you as you fly back and land hard on your back, your shirt warm and the breath knocked out of you.

You hear more hollering and the struggle between Alpha's Son and the saber as well. He sounds like he's barking at it, goading it while you're recovering from the saber's assault.

I let out a groan as I regain my standing, but quickly shake it off and force myself back into the fight. I can't let the tribe or Alphas son down.

I'll continue trying to flank the saber, but hopefully this time avoiding getting hit when I strike.

By force of will, you find yourself on your feet again as you're still regaining your breath, and you're running back toward the saber and Alpha's Son, who has somehow continued to duck and dive and stab while you were on the ground. You see that one of his legs has a steady stream of blood down it, but he hasn't lost a beat, stabbing into the saber with his spear and capitalizing on your training with him.

You move in behind the saber, while Alpha's Son continues to thoroughly distract it, until you stab it again in the back, on the opposite leg this time. Both legs bleeding, the saber yowls again, and swipes at you, just in time for you to back away. You feel the air it displaces from its swing, the paw was so close to your head. With all of the saber's attention on you, Alpha's Son harasses it from behind, and you focus and narrowly avoid a bite and another paw swipe when you then work your way under it and thrust the spear hard, up, into the saber's chest. Its weight crushes down on you, and you see the spear start to bend before it finally drives home into the saber's lungs or maybe heart. The saber cries out in a way you haven't heard yet.

It starts crashing toward you , a swirling mass of fur, teeth, and claws raining down in your direction down the spear shaft.

As the saber starts crashing down, I abandon the spear and roll out from underneath the saber. I can repair or make a new spear, but getting caught under that weight with the cat in its death throes sounds harder to fix.

Once I clear that immediate danger I try to maintain my adrenaline and force myself to my feat. While the saber seems to be dieing, we still need to tend to his victim. I'll rush to the injured links side and access the injuries. How bad do they look? Also on the way over I'll check my own, only cursory enough to make sure that I won't pass out while tending to the other injured parties.

I assume Alphas Son is assisting with the first aid? Or at least rushed over the same as I? How injured is he?

The saber is coming down, but you spring back into a summersault away from it. You narrowly avoid it, and it's no problem keeping your adrenaline pumping when you look back to see the ferocious groans and movements that the saber continues to make, even with a fragment of your spear through its chest and the head poking out its back.

When you run to the injured link, you asses yourself. Aside from some probable bruising on your chest, and needing a new shirt now due to the front being torn, you think you're fine. Alpha's Son seems to be bleeding down his leg still, but he's standing and stays near the saber. He seems like he is considering chancing another stab into it to kill it.

You run and pull the injured link away from the saber. He's extremely pale compared to the normal link pigmentation. He's still bleeding heavily, is nonresponsive, and breathing extremely shallowly. He has deep wounds he's bleeding from along the right side of his chest, including a few minor ones but two deep stab wounds on his chest. You see some blood dribbling out the side of his mouth too.

It strikes me that one of the shortcomings of caveman language is that it's difficult to verbally communicate, and demanding enough attention to pantomime during combat is too dangerous. I'll have to work on verbal communication skills with alphas son to allow for better coordination. For now though hope he's smart enough to realize the saber will probably die from bleed out or punctured lung, so the priority should be his own safety.

Since my shirt is already ruined I'll take it off when I get to the injured link and tear it into strips to use to apply pressure and act as bandages. It seems like he has a punctured lung, and unfortunately I have no training in regards to that, so the best I'm going to be capable of is applying light pressure at the wound to slow the bleeding. Hopefully that will be enough to stem the bleeding. If so I'll start working on getting the strips in place to act as bandages and keep pressure there.

Alpha's Son keeps inching closer, but seems to maintain a safe distance so that the saber, in its slowing movements, can't quite reach him.

The link you're caring for, however, is another story. A crowd begins to gather of links when you rip your shirt off and start mending his wounds with makeshift bandages. The injured link groans loudly when you first apply pressure, and it surprises you how loud he can actually be. His eyes briefly open, but they're rolled into the back of his head, and he continues to bleed a little out of his mouth.

Everyone gathered around look concerned, and five observers turn into twenty quickly, all pushing to try to get closer and see what you're doing.

I try talking to him when he moans, just tying to keep him from falling back unconscious. Trying desperately to keep him from going into shock.

It does occur to me that I should be careful to avoid applying pressure to the wrong locations, as I don't want to cause a rib to shove into his lung, so I keep the pressure firm but avoid being excessive with it.

Are any of the people who come close Big Link? Either way I'll try to ask if there are any members who have tended to the sick, that could give me a hand. Also I'll ask for clean water from the stream, they can use some of the cloth strips to soak it up. I'll use it to clear away some of the blood so I can see better and also rest it on his forehead, to keep him cool. Comfort may very well be all that I end up offering him but I'm not about to give up.

The reason I'm hoping big link is among them is that verbal communication would once again be much easier. But either way I'll try to get the point across.

You try to talk to him when he seems awake, but he remains unresponsive.

You recall from your time here that you've witnessed children and adults both getting injured. Usually, they're tended by their closest female relative, most commonly the mother or wife. But all these women offer is comfort. The injured parties just have to heal in their time, whether from an illness or a sprained ankle, they do nothing additional to aid healing.

You glance up quickly, and identify Big Link's head above the rest of those pressing in, and when you call, he uses his strength and clears a path roughly in the growing crowd. It's almost getting too pressed to think and help the dying link.

Big Link takes the tatters of your shirt to the river and quickly returns, once more having to roughly push his way through the thick crowd of bodies, all trying to see what you're doing.

You apply the new bandages, wipe the blood down as much as possible, and see that you didn't miss anything. You're pretty sure his lungs are punctured already from the bite's location, depth, and the fact that he's still bleeding from his mouth when he coughs. He remains unresponsive when you put a cold rag on his forehead.

It has now become very crowded, with you and Big Link crouching over the dying link while the rest try to get a peek.

After big link returns I thank him for getting the water. After a little bit, when I confirm his lung was punctured by cleaning the wounds area, I sigh deeply and tell Big Link that I can't fix the problem this link has, I can bandage the outside but (and here I'll try explaining what the lung is, describing it as the way one breathes) has been punctured. The cool water on his forehead and not moving him are all I know that we can do at this point, to make him as comfortable as possible.

I'm deeply sad as I say this all, I feel on some level I have let them all down by not knowing how to save this link. So much of what I know for first aid is how to treat injuries you would get hiking or if things get bad enough how to stabilize them until emts arrive. But I'll stay by his side until he passes, in case he makes an unexpected turn for the better.

After he passes I'll look to find Alphas Son. I want to check his wounds to see that he's ok, and confirm the saber is dead. I'll also regretfully tell him I wasn't able to save the link who was attacked (unless there was a huge unforeseen recovery) and that his injuries were past what I can treat.  If the saber is dead, I will recommend we cut up the saber like we would a very big frog and I can cook it for the tribes. (I have that stone knife I made earlier to help here).

I also suggest we build a wall at the sand bar and ask if this is the first time a saber has come to this side?

Eventually, after almost an hour of his occasional groans of pain and when you've exhausted your knowledge, the links begin to dissipate, having seen enough of the dying link's pain. His moaning hits you deep, damaging your morale while you stay by his side.

Alpha's Son looks at you hopefully at first, until he sees your face and you two lock eyes. Then, he hangs his head lower and walks away. He definitely does look disappointed with you.

Big Link stays for a while, but eventually goes to see to his family when it starts to get dark outside.

The only other remaining link is a female you never met, who carefully places his head in her lap and strokes his head hair when he lies still, when he starts to shake, and when he coughs up even more blood in violent episodes of painful consciousness. It's hard for you to stay, but you change out his rags occasionally, especially the one on his head, and the female link remaining seems sad but thankful for what little you're able to do.

Finally, early the next morning and after a long night, you wait for him to take another breath after he lets out a soft moan. Then you wait longer. The female seems to understand, but stays to stroke his head just for a little longer.

Alpha's Son comes back out, still sad, but beckons you over to the dead saber. The female, who still strokes the dead link's head, rubs your arm friendly, and pushes you to go join Alpha's Son. Her eyes tell you that it's okay, and they seem grateful that you stayed with them.

OOC:

Willpower +@1

OOC)That was really excellently written, and just wanted to note that I'm not avoiding responding to any given part, but your narrative of how the night went is pretty much perfect.

When the female who was staying with the injured link pushes me to let me know it's ok to go see what Alpha's Son needs, I'll start to head over, thankful that she understands I did what I can, and sad that I couldn't do more.

When I get over to Alpha's Son and the dead saber, I apologize for the fact that I couldn't do more, and I try to explain that the injuries were just too deep for me to fix.

I'll quickly move on to the next topic though, since I'm not really looking for a response, just had to let him know. I'll ask how his injury is, as I saw him bleeding in battle.

Assuming his injury isn't really bad (which I assume would have come up already if it were, he's moved around a fair amount since the end of the battle), I'll suggest we get some of the others to gather vines and large sticks/logs so that we can build a wall here. It'll have to be tall and strong. While they're out if you can have some of them bring back a number of straight sticks similar to the ones I've used for the spears, I want to make more. I believe we should extend our training to incorporate those that you would trust. On one hand, my fear is that if the wrong Links got spears that they might start using them to settle personal disputes were challenges are best used. However it's clear that we should train a few more to act in unison with us if a threat presents itself. I also suggest we attempt to learn a language to allow better communication in battle. We can't rely on gestures when our eyes need to be fixed to the target. Verbal communication will make the entire affair go smoother.

I'll also move towards the dead saber, draw my knife and suggest we prepare it so it can be cooked tonight. This should feed a good number of the tribe, and shouldn't go to waste. I'm assuming the shaft of the spear I was using in the fight did end up breaking under the weight of the saber? and you mentioned the tip of the spear was sticking out the other side, I'm going to grab that part of the spear and pull it out. I plan to make a necklace out of it, to act as a reminder of both the achievement we made yesterday and the price that it came with. It doesn't matter to me when during the day I make that, but I'd like to do it sometime during this day.

While cutting up the saber, I do want to mention to Alpha's Son that while the day is very sad due to the death, it's important to not overlook the significance of what we achieved yesterday. We have killed a beast that we never were able to before. There is one less beast to hunt us, and we'll know more of how to fight them. With that in mind, as I'm cutting up the parts of the Saber that look to have the most meat, I'm also using this opportunity to identify the anatomy. I want to know where it's vital organs are, more exactly that just this is where it makes sense. It may help in the future if I have to put one of them down quickly to save anothers life.

So in synopsis, in this day I'm looking to:
Get them started building a wall to stop more sabers from crossing the river
Build more spears (the number depends on the number that Alpha's Son trusts after my description)
Cut up the Saber
Cook the Saber later that night
Make a necklace out of the broken spears tip
Start gradually teaching Alpha's Son more english, in an attempt to coordinate in combat
Identify basic Saber Anatomy
Get some rest, throughout the day, most likely after I've finished cutting up the saber but before the next meal. I didn't get any rest the night before, and a lot of what we're doing this day can't be messed up.

OOC: Thank you. And sorry this took so long; my wife has been keeping me busy when we've been at the beach this weekend.

IC:

Alpha's Son replies that he understands death, and that it wasn't your fault that he died; you and he kept the rest of the Big River tribe safe.

Alpha's Son's injury on his leg is obvious when you walk up: a deep gash probably from a claw across his thigh. It's already begun healing, and the blood has coagulated to stop the bleeding. He's walking on it with a limp, and the site of the injury is a little bit red around the border, but otherwise it seems to be healing fine. All he complains is that it itches.

He shakes his head, but concedes that it might be a good idea to build a wall there. (In Caveman) "But the water has never been so low before. Still plenty high to wash, drink, catch frogs and fish in, but this is lowest it has been. Never has it been so low that monsters could stalk across to reach us..." He steps over onto the sandbar. "What if others come at other spots like this?" Still, he gathers some cavemen to start working on it under his instruction.

You notice that it's extremely shallow there, barely a foot deep over the sandbar.

Alpha's Son seems open to incorporating some of his brothers and cousins-people from his family, and teaching them to use spears. He is also open to learning to talk English with you, for combat purposes at least.

You save the spearhead, and craft the necklace while you're cooking. You find that, especially since you're the only one cooking with this tribe, the saber takes a long time to prepare. You skin it, gut it, and slice the meat as best you can from it. Then there's making either enough spits or one large enough to cook all of the meat on simultaneously or using one over the course of hours to cook all of that meat.

While cutting it up, you see you pierced its lung badly, and it died in a very similar fashion that the dead link did, but faster. You identify a heart as well, and think you might be able to aim for it, but it's a small target for such a large beast, which is already protected by a thick coat, skin, and bone. You think that the lungs would be an easier spot to aim for, but it'll take a deep thrust to succeed, and you'll have to do it from underneath to be able to penetrate it best.

It takes you a few attempts to successfully wrap a small vine securely enough around the spearhead to keep it on, but eventually you do, and have a half-decent necklace when you're through. But what the links are really excited about is the saber that they smell you cooking over the fire.

Between you cooking saber and Alpha's Son overseeing the wall construction, you finish cooking the saber as the sun's setting and Alpha's Son has a good foundation for the wall finished with the help of some now-hungry cavemen.

There's plenty of saber, but plenty of hungry links too. The dead link's female eventually joins the rest as well. By the time you've prepared and handed out the food, you're exhausted as you're eating your meal, falling asleep while the others are trying to thank you. Alpha's Son uses the caveman pantomime to start telling the epic story of how you helped him defeat the saber and save the community from the monster from across Big Water.

I'll mention to alphas son that the itching is a sign the healing is doing well, it's the body fighting against possible diseases. It's important to not scratch at the area though,

(Responding to Alphas son in caveman) "We'll have to pay attention to the waters levels, and perhaps we should patrol the riverside every few days to keep an eye out for potential future crossings."

What's the rain been like? I'm guessing little to none still?

I'm glad to hear about the fact that Alphas son has some people he would trust to train with us, and I'll mention i would also like to invite Big Link and the best warrior from our tribe (outside of Big Link, probably one of his sons. I assume I would have seen enough by know to know this). I doubt he'll see a problem with this, and while I don't know either of them will accept I want to make the offer.

I would have used smaller spits over the course of the day. The larger spit would risk too much undercooking for me to be comfortable.

I'm glad the links are enjoying the cooked saber, and also make note that in training I will explain the location of the lungs and the approaches to pierce it, as that seems the most likely to take these sabers down.

I do my best to stay awake during the dinner and alpha links story, but go to sleep as soon as it's all over. I imagine I'll need a lot of rest.

If it's ok with you this seems like another good time to jump ahead until the next big spot. I plan to follow the same routine as before except the spear training now includes teaching a group instead of just alphas son and myself. I would like to develop a style that incentivized group tactics and defenses, and using the spear. The emphasis would be on slow tactical strikes while using the spears length and our combined efforts to our advantage to keep us safe. Not really sure mechanically how I would want that to work out yet. But other than that change the routine would be the same as before.

It's hard to gauge what little rain would be in this environment, but you believe that there's been a sufficient amount to maintain the health of a larger river like this. Yet, the water level still dropped.

Big Link joins, but his sons are very young still. While he expresses interest in learning, he seems more interested in chasing toads. Big Link has a large family you've come to know. He has five daughters, three of whom are in their late teens by the look while two are toddlers. He also has two sons, one of whom is only a toddler while the other looks to be about ten years old. Were you interested in inviting the ten year old son or one of the daughters?

And the best warrior from the Big Water tribe is unanimously agreed upon. It's definitely Alpha Link.

OOC: There are tactical fighting skills to grant advantages, and there may be a time jump coming up very soon to incorporate all of these new training methods.

Of the three eldest daughters, given Big Links permission, I'll invite the one who has shown the most intellectual ability. If Friendly Link is one of them , I will show slight favor towards teaching her how to fight. Intelligence is definitely one of the qualities I'm looking for as much as physical ability, and she has already shown herself to be quite smart.

As long as Alpha Link is willing to train with me, I am willing to train him. When he comes to the first training session, I'll approach him individually to explain that I wish bad blood between he and I, and Big Link and him, to be put away. We're all fighting for the same thing now, the safety and success of the Big Water Tribe. Let us focus on building a sense of trust between us all so that we may act as one when hunting or defending against the sabers.

To the entire training group, I'll start off our first session (once it's started, after the side conversation with Alpha Link) thanking them all for joining, and saying that we have much work ahead. The sabers are dangerous, but we have shown that we can kill them. We will train to both keep each other safe and bring down the monsters. This is all for the good of the Big Water Tribe.

OOC)Works for me.

Friendly Link wants to train with you, but Big Link immediately forbids it when it's brought up with him. He believes that men protect their families, and that she has no need of learning how to fight like that.

Alpha Link towers over you as you talk with him, trying to persuade him of the benefits of taking up the spear and how it is ultimately to help everyone. While he is reluctant at first, because of the bad blood, he ultimately sees your side and accepts the spear you offer him, and joins you and the rest during the first practice session that day, a few hours before the sun will start to set.

In the group, you have several volunteering males, but only ten spears to pass around that you managed to make. There are about thirty volunteers, only a third of which are armed with spears at any given time during training.

After you give your speech in caveman pantomiming, something catches your eye in the woods. You see a glint of white metal flash past, appearing briefly and disappearing again in the trees before you can get a good look.

I'll apologize to Friendly Link, and say that I can't disobey Big Link, but should he ever change his mind I am always more than happy. I'm hoping she doesn't hold it against me, and also somewhat hoping she starts trying to convince Big Link every so often. But either way, it is their culture, and I've imparted a lot of mine already, I don't want to ignore theirs.

I thank Alpha Link when he agrees to train with us. I'm thinking that this is going to be tense, but as long as we stay focused that this is all needed for the tribes safety, and that we're all on the same side this may be the best way to get everyone to at least accept, if not like, one another.

With the 30 volunteers I'll make sure they know that over time, I will make more spears. It will take time, but I plan to have one for each volunteer once I can make enough. And that being said, I'll be making more each night. End goal is to have enough for everyone a few extra in case some break.

The metal flash, is it on the far side of the river or this side?

If it's on the far side, I'm just going to keep an eye on the general area during training.

If it's on the near side, I'm going to ask everyone to bear with me, but I need to check something out, and gesture to Alpha's Son while running towards the direction I saw the glint. I'll explain that I saw something in the trees, and want to be sure it's not another monster.

I feel a little bad, because I'm only telling half the truth to Alpha's Son there, but I wouldn't have time to explain the other half. I'm hoping it's another human or at least a sign of technology. But regardless, it's an unknown that's far too close to where the tribe lives.

But I'm giving chase to whatever it is.

The glint you saw was on the far side of the river, where the saber supposedly crossed from. When you look closer, looking out for the source of it, you briefly believe you see something large and spherical move between some trees deeper in the woods on the far side of the river. Then, whatever it is disappears into the thickness of the jungle beyond again.

I'll just keep an eye on it for now, and make note that the metal sphere may be draining the water some how. But I'm not ready to go across the river yet, once we've trained for another few weeks I may start thinking of our first hunting trip and exploration. But that's later. For now, we have training

So I'll focus on continuing training. I'm hoping to have another month or two of training before my hand is forced to explore the other side. I'm of the opinion it will have to happen, but I want to be as prepared as possible when it does.

You keep training for a month.

You have more responsibilities around camp now, mostly on building that wall where the sandbar is and in walking the river to keep a lookout for any sabers thinking of crossing the river. Additionally, more of the links want you to cook their food too, after trying the saber.

But over the weeks, you note that your volunteers get markedly better with spears, and you do as well. Additionally, after making so many spears, you find that you're making spears that are good quality or better more often.

Over the month, you notice that it rains twice, and in the last week you start to realize the water level is dropping more. During one of your routine walks to the wall, you see that the water level has lowered enough so that the sandbar is actually above the surface of the water.

Additionally, you go to a training session that day, with a heavy mind from seeing the water level still dropping after rains, and hear a buzzing hum coming from the other side of the river.

OOC: Skill increases!

Spear: +@2
Spear Making: +@2
Caveman Wrestling: +@2

You also relate some tips for pack fighting to the rest, but you'll have to wait until you all try it to see how well they have it down. Additionally, Alpha's Son has picked up basic English relatively well, speaking it often with you, Big Link, and Friendly Link sometimes too.

Has anyone asked to help me or to learn how to cook from me? Just curious what the current attitude towards the fire is. I'm more than willing to cook for as many as wish me to.

Since alphas son is learning English, I'll start speaking what I'm communicating with him, much the way I have been with friendly link and big link. I also find it a great sign that he is talking with big link more.

When I hear the buzzing hum I'll ask alphas son if he's ever heard it before? I'll also suggest that we're getting to the point that we are capable enough that we could explore the other side of the river and drive the sabers further back over time. What does he think of for today's training to venture to the other side and exploring what is there. I very much would like to, as I think it holds tactical advantages, and I'll convey that to him. I really would like to know what is making the sounds and what the occasional metal glints have been.

If he agrees that it would be good for a training exercise I'll go over with the group that well be exploring part of the other side of the jungle today. It is important to stick together and watch each other's backs. Don't let anyone get caught off guard. We're going to be looking for signs of sabers, other water sources, things we haven't seen before, and food sources. If we take down a saber during the hunt, I'll cook it for the tribes tonight. That's meant to be an overall encouraging speech while also emphasizing how careful we must be

Some are curious about the fire, others scared, but the vast majority show a lack of interest once you produce cooked food from it. Many bring you frogs, fish, small mammals, and occasionally lizards to cook.

Everyone training with you seems uneasy about the hum coming from across the trees, some clenching their spears while most drop them, focusing instead on the noise across the river. Alpha's Son turns to you wide eyed, and says, "Never." While he seems curious, you get the hint he's slightly afraid of what the noise might be.

Then, when you suggest going over as a training exercise, he suggests. "Too many us. Fewer us, we can go there. Come back quicker and move faster. You. Me. A few others. Unless you think numbers better? What if monster attacks again, while we are gone?"

"You have a good point. How about you and I, and 2 others go. The rest will stay here and train as normal while we explore the other side."

I don't have a preference in which two go with us, so if alphas son does I'm happy with that. Otherwise just any two.

Same plan for exploring as before but with 4 instead of all of us. And I'm going to be heading in the direction on the humming, while also looking for signs of metal or sabers on the way.

Alpha's Son seems hesitant, but the hum isn't very loud, more like a background, far-off presence. But you hear the volume increase as you and he talk about how many should go.

Alpha's Son selects two likely men, both of whom you know have children of their own. They're also brave, and average with the spears. While you and Alpha's Son are the best among the group, you know that these two can hold their own and don't back down during practice bouts easily. They're also excited about the possibility of taking down a saber themselves today.

You and Alpha's Son take the lead, while the rest watch you go, and continue their exercises under Big Link and Alpha Link. They seem to have made a temporary peace, taking yours and Alpha's Son's example.

Your party cross the river in a shallow portion, which are all too easy to find now, and travel across the bank that the wall is built next to. With spears in hand, you enter the unfamiliar jungle. On the other side of the river, it outwardly seems the same as the side you came from; however, whether it's the buzzing sound that seems to be getting louder and more distinct or the newness of your surroundings, the environment has you on edge.

Alpha's Son doesn't show any of those fears, but you can tell that the other two links share them with you. With the buzzing increasing in volume, you also realize that they're coming from multiple sources up ahead, past a large thicket of thorns, trees, and bushes ahead. You think that you could climb over or push through them easily enough. Otherwise, you'll have to find a path around.

It's good to see Big Link and Alpha Link willing to work together. All of the links are better off because of it.

I'll push through the thorn bushes, using them to keep myself somewhat hidden as I see what's on the other side of them. I'm half expecting to come upon a human settlement that's working to clear the trees or something, or possibly setting up an electrical dam which could have caused the water problems. Main point being I'm trying to both not be caught off guard by any sabers but also not be seen by any people in the area. So the foliage works well.

So you push on through the thick foliage, and your companions follow behind you, starting with Alpha's Son and then the rest. You keep your eyes closed and grope with your hands for an end to the twigs and leaves and cuts that the bushes give you.

Finally, though, you feel an end and peer out into a space that you find hard to take in as you observe the things roaming within it. While you see thick trees where you immediately emerge, about fifty yards farther you see only a field of stumps, open ground, and sunlight. And a mountain rests in the distance.

But closer, you see large, metallic spheres of mostly white, but with a black, horizontal line across the middle, cutting the white in half. Also, you see nozzles in the black stripe. Additionally, they're floating approximately three to five feet off of the ground.

Beyond these two metallic spheres are more, white machines that seem to be working to clear the forest where the edge of the open space is. Those machines are also the origin of the buzzing sound with their automatic saws, but the hum originates from all of them, especially the two you see pass by your hiding place.

I motion to alphas son and the rest to stop and stay quiet when I see the spheres.

I'll spend a few moments taking it in, obviously darting my attention between the two spheres that are closer and the ones clearing the forest. I'm looking to see if there are any spheres that have broken during the cutting process. Whether by a tree falling on them or whatever. I'm also looking to see if they appear to have the ability to change from horizontal cutting to vertical or diagonal. And how fast are they moving. Could we out run them if needed. Do I recognize the type of metal? I've done a lot of work with steel, both superalloys and normal steel, and some other metals.

And where do the two closest spheres appear to be going?trying to discern if it's a patrol or just moving towards the next area they're clearing.

You see the lumberjack spheres cutting down the trees with horizontal blades; however, others seem to cut them down to manageable logs with the same spinning blades, just turned vertically instead. None seem to be damaged.

The rest hang back when you say, behind the bushes. You can't determine about the to you saw. It could be that you're at the border of their path right now, or they could be headed somewhere else. You'd have to wait longer to see if they were to return to tell if it's a patrol at this point. For the time being, it could be either way.

They're moving a little faster than a normal walk, but not so fast that you don't think you could outrun one moving at this speed.

Concerning the metal, you can't identify what sort it is for sure without closer observation.

I'll communicate with the three Links that I'm going to try and communicate with whoever is controlling these things. Stay hidden in the brush, and be ready to run back to camp if I start running back. Then, specifically to Alphas Son "If I get hurt out there, make sure to get back to safety and avoid these spheres at all costs. Don't come out and save me, the tribes safety may depend on you."

I'll then hand Alphas Son my spear, and walk out towards the two nearest spheres with my hands up in a surrender/non threatening position. I'll say in English "Hello, I'm Michael Washer. I don't know who you are, but would like to speak to your leaders. I am not a threat, I just wish to negotiate a peaceful arrangement with you and the tribe I represent."

I'm staying out of saw range, and paying attention that if it looks like they're about to use lasers going to run.

The two following links nod to your commands, but Alpha's Son is more reluctant. Still, he bows his head slightly. "You be fine. Keep safe." He takes your spear, and still seems uncertain about it but lets you head through the brush to the other side, with the floating spheres.

You enter the open, and soon enough those two spheres come back at their normal speed. You raise your hands in a nonviolent manner, but the spheres keep approaching, and then stop abruptly.

Before you can get your name out, one of them shoots at you, followed in quick succession by the other. They're brief blasts of light, one of which you duck under and can feel the immense heat from where it barely passes your head, while the other grazes your right side, under your arm. Pain and the smell of burnt flesh rush through you.

Making a run for it back to the brush and not stopping to navigate the thorns, just pushing through. I'm focusing my mind to keep the thought of pain out and just focus on getting back to camp. Also yelling to alphas son to run, in case that wasn't obvious.   Full speed run back to the other side of the river. Trying to lose these spheres on the way, just by putting enough distance in between.

Once I'm at camp run water over my injury and check how bad it is.

You run through the brush, shouting at the top of your lungs in panic. Alpha's Son must have heard you, because after you scrape yourself badly through the bushes, you see the three of them running back to the camp. He turns to see you emerge from the bushes, your eyes lock, but then his widen and look above you.

You hear the hum of the spheres get louder, quiet, and then pick up again as it lands on your side of the bushes, next to you. Alpha's Son brandishes his spear, and the other two links fade from sight.

I'll yell to alphas son to keep going, we can't fight these. Have to outrun them.

And that's what I'm going to continue to try and do.  I'm hoping that once I'm not having to push through the brush that I can move faster than it, and also hoping it loses interest or hits the extents of the area it is programmed to patrol.

If I get lucky maybe a saber will catch its attention as a larger threat and eke out busy long enough for me to get away. But yes, in full run, doing what I can to dodge but prioritizing getting away.

And you flee from the metal sphere, grabbing Alpha's Son along the way. He sprints after you along your jagged path you make, in the hopes of avoiding any more of the sphere's projectiles, whatever they are.

You see a couple more of its attacks fly past you, and then you hear a scream from Alpha's Son running next to you, and he falls to the ground. You see a burn mark in his lower back, as he tries to pull himself back up, but fails and falls once more on his face. The sphere is pursuing still, as Alpha's Son crawls towards you.

In a moment of rage when I see alphas son hit I stop running and double backwards, grabbing the spear as I pass alphas son and getting ready to stab the sphere where the lasers are coming out. I doubt I could damage it on the metal surface, but maybe where it's firing from. Either way, the tribe needs alphas son, so I can't fail him.

You pivot, and charge with what momentum you can muster, grabbing the spear from the ground along the way.

The sphere is floating in front of you, humming at you in the same dull drone as it levitates and looks like it's preparing to attack again.  You close the distance fast, faster than you ever would have before you started training with these links.

You're about to strike at the sphere, when you see the bottom of it. It isn't white like the rest. The air looks blurry there, which must be how you missed it before, but it's made of some sort of what looks like a fabric, that vibrates with the humming noise emanating from the sphere.

Upon noticing the fabric, my mind flashes back to the fight with the saber, and I decide to try and thrust my spear through the fabric and into whatever is making it run.

You angle yourself under the sphere, taking a knee, and thrust the spear up in one motion. The spear cuts through the fabric easily, and continues up. When the fabric tears, it makes a popping sound and you feel an increase of the vibrations in the space your hands are holding the spear, and a rush of air.

The vibrations continue to do work on your hands, which you feel start to go numb, but not before you feel the spear hit some moving parts inside. The sphere makes clicking mechanical noises, and starts falling down towards you.

Once the spear is lodged into the mechanical parts and the sphere begins falling towards me, I'm going to let go of the spear and roll out of the way to one side.

After it crashes, do the vibrations stop? If so I'll carefully get closer again (in case it's still active just the engines are down, and rip back the fabric. What's it look like inside?

You release the spear and try to roll out of the way, but the sphere falls too fast and lands on your side. Hard. You don't hear a crack, but you're sore in your right forearm and side.

Once things calm down, and you see you aren't being pursued, you start investigating the sphere, pulling the fabric back. Your arm and side start throbbing worse from pain, but you peek inside and see that the fabric seems like some loose, thin metal that moves like cloth, with tiny links keeping it all together. Inside, there is a complicated collection of tubes, levers, and gears. In the middle, where you find the broken end of your spear, is a small sphere only a little larger than your hand. It is transparent, and you see some mist with electricity arcing inside, but blinking out until you finally see it go dead.

Alpha's Son struggles, and you turn back to see him sitting against a tree and breathing heavily.

How heavy is the sphere? Carryable by one person, two, or not at all?

First things first though, I'm going to go check up on Alphas Son. I'm being careful of there areas I hurt as well when going over to him. Don't want to make anything worse than it already is. But from the sounds of it there aren't any breaks.

To Alphas Son  once I'm at his side, "Where did you get hit and where does it hurt?"

I'm trying to judge a few things, first whether he needs immediate treatment or if he's just in pain. Also based on where he was hit, making sure he wasn't partially paralyzed.

If capable I'm going to get him back on his feat (if I believe it won't make his injury worse) and walking back to camp with me. I'll be carrying or dragging the sphere, explaining to alphas son that we need to study our enemy and it cost him and I both enough to take down this one, I don't want to have to fight another without knowing what I'm up against.

You think it might take two or possibly three people to carry it. The sphere is very heavy, and your body is feeling the impact worse and worse as the adrenaline tapers off. It's your forearm and it feels like your ribs that hurt. It hurts to breathe a little bit, but you don't have any trouble moving over to Alpha's Son.

He grimaces, and says, "Back, low." He moves his hand with his face contorted in pain to a spot on his back that he shows you, which has a small, but severe burn mark that actually goes an inch deeper into his muscle. He winces and jerks his hand back forward, trying to lessen his movements. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be bleeding.

But you do see that he moves his feet and legs still. When you try to help him to his feet, he slumps back down and screams in pain. "It hurts." He breathes the words out, but tries again to rise to no avail.

When the pain starts getting worse I'm going to focus my mind on how dire the situation is and try and trick my body into releasing more andrenaline. I'm going to need all the strength I can muster to get alphas son and I back to safety.

After alphas son fails to stand, I'll tell him I'm going to try and carry him. I apologize that it's probably going to hurt but I have to get us both to the other side of the river. Hopefully the other two are back by now and letting your father and Big Link know what happened.

And I'm going to try and carry him back to the other side.

You aren't sure if you trick your body into releasing more adrenaline or not, but you manage to ignore the pain with only the occasional grimace.

Alpha's Son nods at you, and slowly talks back, "I can help. Some."

Between the efforts of you, Alpha's Son, and the tree he leans against, you manage to get him up onto his feet, and he's able to walk with a lot of support on your part. Luckily, this also takes some of the pressure off of your injured arm and side.

You walk a few yards before you hear noises coming from the direction of the link community. Then, you see them. Ten men, with Alpha Link in the lead, running into the woods and towards you and Alpha's Son. All of them are carrying the spears that you've made.

When Alpha Link sees you and Alpha's Son, the group change direction and head toward you two.

When I see them coming over I'll direct two links to support Alpha's Son on either side and carry him back to the other side of the river. He'll be fine but getting him somewhere to lay down safely is a high priority.

Then to Alpha and Big Link, I'll thank them for coming for us, and ask their indulgences to help retrieve what hurt Alpha's Son and I. It's one of the sources of the buzzing, and I took one out defending Alpha's Son, but it's too heavy for me to carry. It'll take a number of us to do it, and I can't lift all that much right now.

So I'm hoping to split the party, sending half back with Alpha's Son, and half to come back the small distance I'd traveled and carry the sphere back to the other side of the river. Once there I'm going to make sure to remove some of the interior parts of the sphere, whether it's gears or tubes or something. Preferably something I could put back in, but also that looks crucial to operation. Then once I've done that (I believe it to be crucial to the tribe safety) I'll go see how Alpha's Son is doing.

As Alpha Link runs up to you and his son, you see real concern on his face. He gives you his spear and immediately helps to hold his son from falling, while another joins in to help as well.

Big Link is not present; he must have stayed behind with the family and the rest of the links.

The links go about the business of collecting the big, white machine, but one more link comes up to you with a worried expression too. He puts your good arm over his shoulder, and helps you walk back too.

You're starting to feel light-headed, but you're able to keep your feet on your own.

I'll thank the link that helps support me while walking back.

Once I'm back to camp I'm going to try to keep myself going and both remove a piece of the spheres internal workings as a safeguard to make sure it stays off, and check on Alphas Son. I'll also want to rinse both his and my wounds with water. I doubt there is much danger of infection or anything like that since the laser would carry so much heat by its nature, but the soothing effect as well as just to be safe is worth it.

After that's taken care of I'm going to want to get some sleep, if no one objects.

You get back to camp and immediately keep working at it. It takes a feat of willpower to keep going instead of resting, but you manage.

You pull a the central piece you saw earlier out of the sphere. It's a smaller ball, transparent, with what looks like dull, blue wires inside a dark gray mist. But it looks important, so you remove it, having to tug it away from another wire that eventually gives and releases it. You notice it was damaged when you thrust your spear inside, and is cracked.

Walking hurts your side still, and while you have a bunch of cuts from your trip through the foliage, your right arm is also big, pulsing, and black. The bruise extends down the front of your chest partially to a big, purple section taking up most of where your ribs are. The bruises end at an inch above your right hip.

Alpha's Son opted for them to put him down on the edge of the water. While he still wears a brave face, you can see that he's in a lot of pain. He lays down flat on his front, and doesn't turn his head toward you when you approach.

He smirks at you when you come into view, though it fades quickly and he says, "Father says you look worse than me."

I'll laugh a bit at his comment, and then wince at the pain I'm sure laughing causes. "I've looked better, I'll admit. We both made it though" and I'll lower myself down to sitting using my good arm. Then jokingly "we might both need to sit out of spear practice for a while though"

Then more seriously, "we should take the time that we're recovering to study that sphere. I've never seen anything quite like that, and we may be able to salvage some of it to improve our situation here or learn how to take them down without as much danger."

And then lay back and try and get a little rest, positioning myself so my weight goes through my left side and not the bruised area.

He nods faintly, "We lived; we get stronger."

Then, when you talk about investigating those spheres more, "I have thought. They are dangerous. Looking at it could help. But maybe...deeper into jungle. We find more water, more food. Keep away from them. What do you think?"

"Both are probably a good idea. There are sure to be other dangers deeper in the jungle, much akin to the sabers however. For now the spheres aren't close enough that we have to jump to a decision. Lets take the time to do a few exploration trips once we're better, looking for good areas that have water and food and aren't too dangerous, and also studying our new enemy, these spheres, to see if there is a way we can fight them off. It's going to be a bit before either of us should be going on any exploration trips into unknown areas though. I plan to spend the days I take recovering studying this sphere, and seeing if I can adapt any weapons from it."

Worth noting when we get to it, when I get to study the sphere I want to try and identify the source of it's power. I'm assuming electric, but I want to see how familiar everything looks. I've repaired electronics such as computers and speakers before, as far as soldering bad connections, but not much past that. Point being I do have a bit of a base point to try and figure out what's going on.

Alpha's Son's face grows serious. "What if they keep coming?" He sighs. "What if they keep coming for us, and they never stop? They take our Big Water, they take our lives if we can't find another, and that is if they stop." Nervous, he looks you in the eyes, "I have never seen a bird like that before."

"That is why we'll be studying this one. I will find what it's weaknesses are and then we can fight back. We've already proven we can beat them. It's just a matter of being able to do it without getting hurt now. And these are tools of some one or some thing, not animals. Someone actually made these, and are having them harvest the jungle for some reason. Which means we may not need to defeat them, but just make the losses bad enough that the controller decides its easier to go somewhere else. I've not seen things exactly like these from where I came from, but the general type of device was used. Their weapons are the part I want to study most. As I have no knowledge of them, and if I c an retrofit some for us it'll be a significant advantage."

And then, reassuringly "We'll get through this. We just have to stick together and we'll come out of this stronger."

He seems lost when you talk about how someone made them, and just nods in response and turns his head to get some rest.

You take your time to recover, and other members of the Big Water Tribe pick up the slack when it comes to bringing you supplies to cook food. In the rest of your time, you spend it with the sphere that they drug back to camp.

It takes some time, but you're pretty sure it runs off of electricity from a battery, possibly chargeable. You took out the part that did both powered and controlled the robot. The cylinders on its exterior seem to be regularly connected to that energy source. You're fairly certain you could get one to fire, but not without another undamaged energy source that you could hook it up to. And you infer that it would take a lot of energy to fire it more than once.

I figured it wouldn't translate well to alphas son. But I wanted to try telling him everything I thought just in case.

With the sphere I want to experiment with how difficult it is to break the exterior. Try using a rock to smash it near its top. I don't want to damage the laser cylinders but I do want to disassemble the sphere and in the process learn how strong their armor is and then use the shards from their metal to make better knives and spears. I also want to get the sawblade it uses to cut the trees out and study that. Is it the same metal as the outside?

You get to work on the sphere, taking a large rock and repeatedly banging on the sphere's metal exterior trying to break it. Usually, the rock glances off of the surface with no effect. The most damage you are able to do is scuff it up, and put a tiny dent in it.

The metal is just too hard and thick for your stone tools and weapons; however, you see that the cylinders, while metal, are surrounded by some sort of synthetic, black rubber that you could probably pierce and cut through with your stone knife to get them free.

There are twenty-one total cylinders.

Also, you find no saw in this sphere, and recall that the spheres that had saws did not have the laser-shooting cylinders around them.

Once alphas son and I are able to get back to training I want to get back to spear training. Specifically I want to go over with the others that the spheres weakness is their underside, and show them how hard the rest of the sphere is but that the underside is able to be pierced. I want to cover the fact that there are two types, and show them the cylinders so the hey can identify this type. I'll explain the other type has a spinning blade that you have to stay away from and that the ones with the cylinders must either be avoided or taken down fast. Finally I'll mention that when you do land a solid blow from underneath that you have to get out of there quickly. They are heavy and you don't want one to fall on you.

I also want to start exploring upstream and seeing what's there. If we have to move away from big water I'd like it to be to a known location. I'd like to do this explorations with alphas son, and will spend a lot of the time talking about how moving hopefully won't have to happen and brainstorm on tactics to take down the spheres.

Periodically I'll suggest another venture to the other side if the river. I would rather fight them before they get to our side of the river and if nothing else a scouting mission to see if they're progressing towards or away from us is valuable. When that trip happens I'm looking to find a sphere off on its own and try and take it down, approaching from behind quickly and stabbing through the metal fabric.

Your whole side is bruised badly, but it doesn't seem like anything's broken; however, Alpha's Son's injury seems to be keeping him out of commission for the time being. His wound, while not infected, is serious. He spends most of his day lying down on his stomach, to avoid pain. You think it could take weeks for him to be back on his feet, and longer to be good for anything significant.

Are you planning on doing these things starting the next day? How far upstream and with whom? You have thirty some odd warriors who know which end of the spear is sharp, Big Link, and Alpha Link all ready to work, as well as many women and children in the camp, who are mothers, daughters, sisters, and brothers to the warriors.

I'm fine with doing the exploring with either Big Link since I trust him the most, or with Alpha Link, as an effort to build trust and a better relationship. I do want to keep the trips short, maybe an hour or two upstream, and stay away from any dangers. I'll also rotate through some of the 30, it's good training for them as well. Maybe group of 3, myself, Alpha or Big Link (alternating preferably) and one of the 30, rotating through them as well.

I'll spend a fair amount of time sitting down near Alpha's Son and talking with him, seeing how he's doing.

Otherwise my daily routine is in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for events to change or Alpha's Son to get better.

Alpha Link stays behind to practice with the other warriors who seem to be more and more accepting to his leadership in their training exercises while you're still recovering.

You don't hear the hum of the saws across the dwindling river again that day, and you and Big Link with a few other random warriors take your spears and explore a couple hours upstream.

Along the walk, you don't see much. The river, while stronger, isn't what it used to be. You can tell from the banks that the river used to be much larger, and it runs slowly where it does. One of the links that comes with you informs you that if you want to go all the way to the water's source, it's a mountain in the distance, which would be quicker to reach through the forest. It's a week's travel time around following the river while only two days through the woods. But none of them volunteer readily for either journey.

You talk to Alpha's Son later that night, and he seems depressed from his injury. He looks longingly sometimes at the men training, and winces whenever he moves. Friendly Link spends much time with him, helping him get around now, but seems less impressed with him than she used to before your trip into the woods.

Just to clarify, the mountain he seems to be talking about sounds like it's the mountain I saw the glint from earlier? If so I have a working theory, but I'm afraid it may be a dam set up on the mountainside, or something similar.

I'll do my best to be encouraging towards Alpha's Son, assuring him the wound will get better, and once he gets back to his feat we can start looking for options of what to do. I'll ask him if he would be ok if we spent some time each day talking tactics. Methods of coordinating our spear fighters to take down spheres without drawing attention or getting injured. Ideas such as having a distraction draw a sphere towards it, and ambushing it as it passes. I think it's valuable to have a number of strategies and he has one of the best tactical minds around.

I'll also talk to him about how I think the spheres are coming from the mountain in the distance, and that the lowering water may be related to them. I will slowly broach the topic that we may wish to move as a tribe, continuously upstream, until we're close enough to the mountain that we can make smaller excursions without being days across dangerous jungle or weeks away through a less dangerous route. Effectively moving the entire group into a better tactical position.

Finally, when away from Alpha's Son, but talking to Friendly Link I'll talk to her about how Alpha's Son saved me, and had he not risked the injury, I would most assuredly be dead. I'll also emphasize that he is dealing with his injury far better than most would be expected. This is all over the course of multiple conversations, but trying to get her to realize the hardship and bravery that he has.

Is Alpha's Son walking at all by the way, or entirely laying down? If he's spending the vast majority of time on his side, I'll encourage him to gradually start walking more with me. Nothing strenuous, just walks to help the muscles.

You believe it may be the same mountain, or perhaps another that was obscured by the trees.

And so you spend a lot of time talking to Alpha's Son, when you aren't working with the rest. He replies to your queries about a new method to distract them, and says, "But if distraction costs this," he gestures to his injury, which still hasn't healed almost any, "it isn't worth fighting. No food from it, only...pain."

He seems in favor of a tactical move upstream with everyone, "That way maybe more water, too. And more water, more life."

You speak with Friendly Link on the subject of Alpha's Son, and she concedes to your points. Usually, she or other links are helping him when he needs to move, but he stays on his stomach or side the majority of the day, only moving when necessary. It could take a while before he's in fighting condition.

I'll concede to Alphas Sons point, and start planning moving upriver.

I will start scouting upriver for a good location to move the tribes to, I'm hoping for one that would be a long days journey but still doable in a day.

Otherwise I'm mostly just waiting for time to pass, keeping up with the training but looking forward to things starting to get back to normal.

Quick question. Are you planning to scout an entire day up river, then? That would mean either striking camp or staying up all night walking back. Also, are you bringing anyone, and if so whom?

Meant a day of the tribe moving, which I imagined would move much slower than just two people. Either way, not going to explore during the dark so my limit is half a day out then half a day back at my speed (with any two links from the spear group) or the distance I think I could get the entire tribe to travel in a day. Whichever I believe is less.

So it has been a few days since your venture into the woods, pushing a week, and you've grabbed a couple of links to come with you on a journey to find an appropriate space for everyone to move.

Alpha's Son has started moving more due to your encouragement, and he's resting against a tree, mostly leaning against it while Friendly Link is stabilizing him. They speak English to one another across the camp from you, with some Caveman sign language as well.

The men are drilling with Big Link and Alpha Link, who finally seem to be getting along better and working together very well. They've begun incorporating wrestling into the men's training schedule as well.

Women watch the children play in the river, the water level of which is still declining daily.

And then you hear the hum. It's faint, but then grows louder, and reminds you of the same hum the violent spheres made when they were floating so close to you. There's no buzzing, and the hum gets louder. Soon, people are looking around for the source, which you determine is across the river. The noise is getting even louder, and you see glints through the trees as some sort of metal craft approaches above the tree line in yours and the Big River Tribe's direction.

While I'm still concerned for the well being of the tribe, I am really happy with the effect I've had here, between getting alpha and big link to work together well, encouraging the adoption of verbal language, if only by those closest to me, and the development of a militia that can use tools to defend themselves. I'm having a brief moment of reflecting and feeling proud before I hear the hum that jars me from that idea.

As soon as I see the metallic glints I yell to everyone to get behind the cover of the trees. Specifically getting the group that is training with the spears to herd everyone further into the forest on our side, away from the clearing that the river has. I'll then rush to alphas sons side, and with friendly links help get him to his feet and move in the direction I was getting everyone else to go, trying to use the tree line to work to our advantage so we're not visible.

Once everyone is behind the tree line a good distance I'll tell alphas son that I'm going to scout the edge if the edge if the treeline. We need to know what's happening. Have everyone start gathering up what they have and moving upstream. I've been scouting the area as we discussed and it looks like we need to move sooner than expected.

And with that I'm doubling back, with a spear, to where I can see the ship and what they are doing while still hopefully being hidden.

In response to your raise of the alarm, the women and children start moving immediately to the treeline, herded by the militia you've formed.

You run to help Friendly Link and Alpha's Son move more into the cover of the trees, but by then the hum is above you, and you look back to see men and spheres both dropping down to your side of the river gently from the center of the large, black-and-white ship. The men are wearing head-to-toe black plastic armor, with respirators over their faces hiding them. They each carry a dangling collection of rings almost a foot in diameter about their belts and rifles in their hands you've never seen before.

And they all hit the ground running (or hovering, where it concerns the spheres) into the trees after you and the rest.

You see over ten of the men drop while three spheres pursue as well.

I'll turn to alphas son and friendly link and tell them I'll buy them what time I can. If I'm lucky they'll understand me. If not I hope to give the tribe enough time to get far enough away. Whatever you do don't appear threatening to them though.

And I'm not giving them an opportunity to either come with me or argue, I turn back towards the oncoming men, drop my spear, and raise my hands in surrender. If any of the links start coming to back me up I'll yell no, run.

Then towards the men in armor "please don't hurt them, they're intelligent creatures and only wish to live in peace. I can tell you anything you need to know and am willing to cooperate. Just leave them be."

I'm hoping that this is something akin to a capture squad, and I definitely have no way of opposing that many. Trying to appear as non threatening as possible. Which shouldn't be too much of a problem considering the amount of power they have compared to me.

As they approach, you get a better look at them, specifically a few that have orange bands on their shoulders, which you infer signifies rank. They continue running into the woods as the first ones reach your position, but two towards the back slow down and roughly grab you by your shoulders, not responding to the words you're pleading to them.

They push you down hard and you feel like you're punched hard in the chest, followed by a sting then a soothing sensation spreads from that spot all throughout your body.

----

Soon, you wake in a sitting position, resting against a wall. You have your same clothes on you, but none of your possessions. The room is dark, the floor is hard, smooth, and cold. And you see some movement of others on the other side of the room, as well as to your immediate left and right.

You feel something cold on the back of your neck, and reach your hand up to it. Then, you realize that it's cold all the way around it, as you feel a hard, metal collar on you, attached connected somehow to the wall behind you.

I groan when I come to consciousness, and try to shake off any wooziness. Then I start trying to take in the surroundings and letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.

Is the floor metal?
Do I hear the thrumming noise or feel any motion that would seem to indicate we're on the moving ship versus being back at a compound?
Can I see any of the links? Are they the others in this room with me?
Do I see a door?

After taking that in I will say loudly, but not shouting, "Can someone please tell me what you intend to do with us?"

And then in a normal talking voice, while waiting to see if there is a response, talk to any links there to try and figure out who all was captured and if any escaped. Also if our captors have done anything while I was unconscious.

You try to keep calm and let your senses adjust to your new near-zero-light environment. Soon, you can make out easier shapes and you count fourteen others sitting against the walls like you. Six are on your side with you and eight are on the other side.

When you groan, you feel a callused hand touch your shoulder, and see that it's from the link next to you, to your right.

By your best guess, the floor may be metal. And when you listen close, you can hear the breathing of your companions, and yes the humming sound of their levitating machines. However, it's far quieter inside of here. Still, you do start feeling a little bit of movement from the vessel now that you're concentrating on it.

When you announce your question, you hear some of the people in the compartment you're in groan, while most remain quiet. One male voice responds to yours though, from across the compartment. You recognize the voice from spear training, but can't quite place it. He speaks in extremely broken English, not like Alpha's Son and Friendly Link had developed. "What..." he growls a little in thought, and says, "Monsters?"

I quickly realize that a whole bunch of these links are going to need my reassurance to stay calm. As such I'll try to adopt my calmest voice when responding to the link who answered me.

"No, or at least I doubt it. More like a different tribe, if they had wanted to kill us, we would be dead not captured. It's just very important for all of us to stay calm. I'm hoping at some point to be allowed to talk to one of them and sort out our differences. But we'll have to wait for them to initiate that. Just good behavior for now."

And I'll try and get a little rest. While resting I'll try to feel where bothy gear is relative to here and that rewards card I hurried near big links original cave.

Worth noting is I'm both trying to keep the group calm through speech and example but also make myself look like one of the leaders from the perspective of an observer. They will probably want to talk to someone they see as being in charge eventually and I would prefer that to be me.

"Don't know your words... But will wait? Attack later..." You realize that he's part of the spear trainees and learned the most rudimentary English, where most of his verbal skills lie in commands that you'd give when hunting or scouting.

You feel both of those senses, but can't distinguish between them. One pull is a little to the right, one a little to the left, and both slightly down from where you are right now.

The links in the compartment with you start to wake up more now, and hold their breaths until you start talking in a reassuring tone. While some seemed panicked at first, you believe that you helped keep their emotions under control and at least stem the fear for now.

Eventually, though, you feel butterflies in your stomach and can feel the ship start decelerating and going down, until it finally stops. A door in the compartment opens outward and you get a look at those around you. The one who spoke earlier-the only one to speak other than you-is definitely one of the links who trained with the spear. You recall he wasn't half bad with a spear, but his tactical skills were lacking.

The rest are men who opted out of spear training, women, and a couple young boys no older than 12. All have thick, black, metal collars around their necks, which you recognize from the strike team members' belts. They seem somehow attached to the metal walls.

When the doors open I'll continue talking reassuringly to the group, encouraging cooperating and not struggling when they come to move us. I'm also looking towards the door to see who or what comes for us.

Am I able to stand or does the collar keep me too low to the ground? If I can stand, I will as I wait for someone to come being us wherever we're going next.

It takes time for your eyes to adjust to the new presence of natural light, but they do after only brief pain. Outside, you see several of the same men, armed and still covered head to toe. Six stand in a semicircle at the entrance, while two are facing one another inside of the semicircle on the ramp leading up to the compartment you're resting in.

When you try to rise, you realize that the collar does keep you from that, forcing you in a sitting position on the floor of the metal compartment.

Then, you see that one of the two facing one another points at you. Unlike the majority of his comrades, he has a red stripe on his upper arm, and his companion has three stripes: two red with one gold between them. Gold stripe nods, then walks away.

Red stripe and one of the plain ones approach you, with a long metal pole in hand that looks approximately eight feet long. Red stripe puts it on your collar, and you feel yourself released from the wall. But then, he uses the pole, now attached to the collar, to drag you up to your feet, and attempts to lead you away out into the light.

OOC: What are you wearing at this point? I recall that you tore your shirt badly when you tried to save that injured link, and also tore it more in the brush when running toward and then away from the spheres.

When he starts leading me put I comply fully. Making sure he doesn't need to try to force me and also trying to display my compliance.

As to what I'm wearing, I imagined that I had switched to one of my extra shirts after tearing my one to make bandages but didn't change it after the tears from the thorns. I also imagine I have my tan cargo shorts on. So a very torn grey tshirt and worn tan shorts.

Out of fear of making them angry, I will wait to talk until they ask me to. But trying to keep my body language saying that I'm not trying to cause problems.

So you let them pull you out, and realize that you probably look strikingly similar to a dog being caught by a dog catcher. Still, you keep your feet and follow them out, and you see that you're in a cleared out area with stumps and freshly-filled holes where stumps have been pulled out. Metal ships of several different kinds are everywhere, with plastic tents near them. You see that everyone out in the open has a blacked-out mask on like the security men who lead you.

You see a few units of them in full gear drilling while others are taking patrols. A few are in less gear, but still covered head to toe maintaining the white spherical drones you'd seen before. Repaired drones follow some of the men patrolling the area. It seems like there's one drone per patrol group, usually consisting of no more than three men.

The ones leading you pull you over just outside a tent, where another one of them walks out with a device that looks like a thick tablet. When the tent opens, a strong odor hits your face to make you dizzy, until the tent is closed air-tight again.

The gold striped one thrusts the tablet in front of you, and you recognize the images as the gold striped man swipes his finger across to reveal several different images. He points at the images, all of various metals you recognize as gold, iron, copper, and others. Then, he shows more of what they look like as ore, and points at a mountain looming over their large camp.

Beyond the mountain and above, you see something that makes your jaw drop. It looks like an enormous building, made all of metal and built in the shape of a funnel. Above looms a dark, dense storm cloud being sucked into the funnel-shaped building raging with thunder and lightning as it is perpetually sucked below.

Have I seen any of them out of the masks yet?  And when the odor from the tent hits me does it smell like anything I know?

After he gets done showing me the information I'll try responding in English "So you're looking for various precious metals either refined or ore, and your harnessing the power of the storms to either dig deeper into the mountain where you expect these or simply to generate electricity to run everything on. I'm probably missing some things, but I haven't seen any of these metals since I've gotten here, or my spears would be metallic and not stone. What is it you want from us?"

While saying this I'm concentrating to mostly be looking at the person who showed me the tablet, but occasionally glancing at the storm funnel. I can't help be curious of both the technical marvels required to do that as well as the potentially disastrous side effects of tapping into it too much. It's most likely the cause of the water issues, if not more besides that.

Nope, you haven't seen any outside of masks yet. Actually, I was mistaken. When that tent flap was opened, you didn't smell anything different, but you could tell that the air was wrong. It made you dizzy in a matter of seconds. Additionally, it's clear that the tents are plastic and air-tight.

They make no response to you, but you see that one of the masked men nods to the other. They thrust the tablet into your hand, and then move you along. The storm funnel continues, and soon they lead you to another part of the camp that looks more run-down.

The new camp is at the foot of the mountain and has a single guard tower in the middle surrounded by just space, stumps, and links with metal collars around their necks. You recognize a few, but some are completely unfamiliar. They loiter in small groups. The only shelter is a large, open-area space under the guard tower.

Surrounding the guard tower fifty yards in each direction are lines of metal posts, with black orbs the same color as your collars on their tops. They hum very quietly as you approach the line. When you reach it, the post stops humming and they push you through.

Once you're through, it begins humming again, and you're inside their fenced-in area.

I still haven't seen friendly link, alphas son, alpha or big link have I?

Of the links that are inside the fence with me, I'm looking for common themes. Out of the ones I know are they the more intelligent of the group, or all male, or the healthiest. My current working theory is I'm in the equivalent of a giant electric fence, where I'm supposed to explain to the links what we're looking for before delving into the mountain to find examples of this. Also at the forefront of my mind is the reasons these technologically advanced peoples would require the help, and my guess is that their atmosphere is volatile in combination with some of the material we may come in contact with. Which brings me around to the fact that I believe that absolutely have to be aliens at this point, which scares me a little, but I can't afford to be scared right now. I have to focus.

 And with that I'll start trying to figure out exactly how much this tablet will tell me. Are there menus or is just a slide show? Any writing of any kind? Either on the screen or the case?

And do any of the links react to  seeing me enter?

It takes you a second of experimenting with the tablet, but you realize that it has more functions than you have access to. You can slide through the slideshow like they showed you or enter the gallery, which is only of the pictures they've given you.

The language is completely unfamiliar to you, but you work your way around by pressing keys regardless. Whenever you try to exit from the running program, a password entry screen comes up. Whenever you try to view a separate gallery, a password entry screen comes up; however, you do see that there are many galleries of images (only one of which you have access to without a password). You can access the settings to adjust brightness, volume (though it is making no noise in the gallery), and some others that you don't know what they're for. One you realize is a password reset, but has three blank entry screens.

At first, the group was just lost and communicating with one another and ignoring you; however, when the guards walked away again, everyone looked to you hopefully before looking back to one another, abject. The only ones who kept eyes on you were a small collection (14) who recognized you. They move over to you, smiling, and bring you in for hugs. One signs to you that she's happy you're okay, and all of them ask you if you've seen any others.

You can't assess any similarities of the links present except that they aren't injured. You see men and women, elderly on their last leg and children on their first. One of the links in another group who are keeping to themselves is only a baby, being held by one of the females on her hip. Most are in their prime, though, but of various strength.

Have I been able to pull up a keyboard during my exploring process? If so I'm curious how many letters are on the keyboard and will start trying to commit the differences in the symbols to memory. My goal is to try and decipher the language by what words would make sense where I see them used. I'll also being keeping and eye out for if hype fence or anything had writing on them.

Does the tablet seem to have a battery indicator?

I'll sign back to the small group that I was in a room with a number of other links, but I haven't located everyone yet. I'll ask if one of them wouldn't mind me looking at the collar around their neck. I can't see mine well enough and I'm curious. (I'm both looking for writing and for obvious latching mechanisms.) I'll also ask if they've talked to any of the links that have been here longer about what they have us do and that I don't think they mean to harm us, but I also don't believe they have our best interests in mind.

And then I pause for a moment and go to both signing and talking in English as I had made a habit around camp, trying to soothe everyone and explain we just need to stick together and I'll do everything I can to keep us safe and reunite us with the rest.

Past that I'm going to spend most of my time studying this tablet, explaining to any link who asks me that these are the reasons these people are here, they're looking for these metals, and also that I'm trying to learn their language to communicate.

Has the tablet shown any sign of having a means or use other than physical manipulation? Now that I'm convinced these are aliens (and still pushing off the thought of exactly what has happened, as the this is another unknown past how I woke up in the jungle in the first place, which was so long ago now...) I'm starting to consider the possibilities that mental energies may be used as so many sci fi shows have had. I'm going over everything I saw the aliens do when interacting with their technology to make sure know how they control them.

You have been able to pull up a keyboard, and have found sixty-four different characters on it. After looking through the menu options, and assuming that the words are similar enough to English to transfer into whatever functions the tablet has, you deduce what symbols make up the word "Password", "Settings", "Pictures/Gallery", the characters for numbers 1 through 20, and possibly "Exit/Escape". But the characters are still unfamiliar for all of those words, so you'd have to reference back to the tablet to be sure.

You don't see any writing on the posts nor do you recall seeing any on their equipment.

The tablet does indeed have a battery indicator, which seems to read a full charge.

You were in the compartment with the same fourteen you see in front of you. The male who knows a little English from your spear training sessions volunteers for you to check out his collar. The collar is black, and you can't get an entire finger inside the space between it and the neck. It seems to be one solid piece of metal at first, until you see some grooves along the front where it must have snapped in place and on the back, there are tiny hinges. The metal also feels smooth to the touch, extremely smooth.

But the most interesting thing is that when you approach close enough with your face to examine it, you feel a slight force pushing back away from you, and notice that it's the two collars pushing back from one another. It isn't a force you can't overcome, but it is a little uncomfortable.

The links say that they haven't talked to any of the others-they're strangers. Who knows where they're from and if they're the cause of all of this?

You examine the outside of the tablet, and find a battery pack, but it's held in by what look like tiny nails, rather than screws, which rest flush with the device. The device does go dark after a period of non-use, but once you touch it again, it turns back on. There are no buttons on the outside.

I'll reassure the group that the other links are most likely in the same predicament we are, or else they wouldn't be behind this fence as well. I'll also mention I'm going to go talk to them, and walk over.

I'm looking for any link outside the 14 that I know that looks curious about either me or the tablet. I'll introduce myself and ask how long they have been here and if he knows what they want from us. I'm doing my speaking in English while pantomiming in the link language again.

The push I felt sounds magnetic, could I tell if it got stronger as I got closer or just once at a certain threshold it exists and before that it doesn't?

I'm going to pay attention to the battery of use tablet off and on. I'm curious how quickly it diminishes.

You approach a likely group of links, five of them total in their huddle. They look abject, scared, worried, and depressed. They're sitting on the ground, some fiddling with the grass and just starting into space until you approach. Then, the three men among the four step up between you, the one female with them, and the baby she's holding in her arms.

They adopt a similar position that you've adopted with your Caveman Wrestling, and they snarl at you. The three are all young men, two probably in their late teens while one is maybe 12 or 13.

They visibly relax when you start trying to communicate with them, but they hold their ground against you, and slowly you're able to start communicating that you don't understand what is happening and want to know if they do. One of the older boys shakes his head, they don't know. They were travelling, trying to find food or game that was still good when they were taken by these demons that flew down from a great bird.


------
Caveman Sign Language +@1, new dialect.

I'll communicate that we should all stick together. I'll try talking to... And at this point I'll try communicating that our captors are not exactly demons, and I hope to reason with them.... Our captors but I have to learn how they talk first. For now though we should all stick together.

And with their agreement I'll bring them over to the 14 I know and introduce them.

I'll then start going around to each clique and work on unifying everyone and getting any information of what they have had us do here and how long everyone has been here. Same base message to everyone though, getting them calm and conveying we need to work together.

Your new friends hesitate at first, but you encourage them and they join your larger group of links. You see seven other cliques, the largest of which seems to be made up of thirty links. In theirs, you notice an organization that the others just don't have. They have many men in their group, mostly in their prime or younger. The few elderly or females that they do have stay towards the middle, with a ring of young fighters around them glaring at any who pass by, especially a group of twenty together across the camp from them.

A few others are smaller groups, but none so small as the one you've already incorporated, ranging from 10 to twenty each.

Totals:
Your Group
14+you+5 from other group

Big Group-30

Other Groups
One-20

Two-15

Three-8

Four-7

What order would you like to approach the others in?

Going with 4,3,2, and then big group. During the talk with big group I'll ask why there seems to be bad blood with them and group one. Solidarity is important here. We all need to stick together.

I am prioritizing getting big group over group one as it seems they are the most organized and my best hope of finding someone who knows what's going on.

Glantri

Winning over the smaller groups is difficult, even more so because of
the communication gap you're still experiencing with them. You manage
to travel around to the groups, though. With one, you manage to win
seven members over to your group while you believe the other two don't
wish for any violence. They're lost, confused, don't understand what's
going on, but aren't comfortable trusting you yet.

When you approach the big group, their members just glare at you like
the rest, and a couple approach you while baring their teeth when you
approach. The remaining in that group watch you suspiciously.

I'm glad some of the members of the smaller group have started to trust me, and realize it will take time for some of the others. I don't press the issue but encourage them to come to me if they need anything. I'll do what I can.

I'll stand my ground when the  two links baring their teeth come towards me, maintaining a friendly yet unyielding stance. I'll try to convey that infighting is against all of our best interests and we need to focus on solidaridity.  I would appreciate if they could tell me what all has happened here and explain that all I know so far is our captors want various metals that I believe are in the mountain.

You arent sure if they don't understand you or choose not to listen, but they continue to bare their teeth until one of the two chooses abruptly to move forward and roughly shoves you.

While they looked mean to start, they seem angry now and like either could likely jump at you at any moment. They have violence in their eyes.

I back off when they shove, and communicate when they want to try and figure out what's going on, come talk to me. When I back away I keep myself alert to defend myself if need be.

I then go over to the group of twenty and splice my solidarity speach and ask if any of them could let me know what's happened here and how long they've been there and what the daily routine is.

As you back away from them slowly, you think that one's going to leap at you at the last moment, but they both turn back and take their places amongst the others in the protective circle around their small tribe.

When you approach the tribe of twenty, you're met with similar hostility, but there doesn't seem to be the same violent nature behind their teeth, snarls, and glares when you approach and start communicating with them. They don't talk back, but stand their ground stoic until an older woman approaches, and communicates back to you. They're lost here as well, came less than a full day ago, at the same time as the large tribe over there. At that point, their numbers were greater. Then, these monsters put sharp stone teeth into their hands and pushed them toward a mountain.

They were confused. They didn't understand what the monsters wanted or what to do. One of the men bumped another and a fight broke out between the two tribes. Blood was spilled with the stone teeth, and the monsters rounded the rest up and brought them back. Blood was spilled, but more of this tribe's than the one you unsuccessfully approached.

I'll explain that I believe I know what they want us to do, although I would have to see the stone teeth to guess further on that, but they want us to look for certain stones in the mountain. And at that I'll show her the tablet and the different ores and metals. I'm not sure why they don't go in themselves other than a theory that they can't breathe our air or there is an environmental danger to them. Either way, it serves everyone's best interest for us to stick together instead of fighting.

And after that conversation is over I imagine I'm getting fairly tired and want to get some rest, we'll see what the next day brings.

The woman nods at most of the signs that you make, and you think she understands the majority of what you said. It is starting to get late and you begin to get drowsy. You head over to your own group of links and huddle with them to sleep for the night.

It is extremely uncomfortable and you dream you're.a wolf rummaging for scraps when you smell a pack of dogs nearby. When you go to them, they shun you and leave you alone in the woods. You wake to a soft hum, and see a hovering transport with crates on board. The people on it unload the crates and open them outside the enclosed area. One points at you and gestures for you to come over to him.

I get up and head over quickly, not running but moving at a good pace. I neither want to convey weakness nor stubbornness. I'll bring the tablet with me.

When I get over I'll ask in English what he wants of me. Ill also be paying close attention if he says anything so that I can start trying to learn their language.

I'll also try to ask if they can unlock a learning program on the tablet so I can learn their language, to better communicate.

When you come readily, the one who called you pulls out a piece of cooked meat, and hands it to you. That one also nods its head when handing it to you. They don't make any response to your statements or inquiries you make in English.

The same one takes the tablet from you and opens the images from before, then shows you several of the images with ore, and then reveals a completely steel pick from one of the plastic crates. He then slowly mimes lifting and lowering the pick in a striking pattern, then pointing at the ore image on the tablet. Then, he shows you the crates and mimes putting rocks into one.

He gestures at the mountain as well, behind you. He taps the perimeter and gestures for you to approach him, while he holds the pick.

I eat a bit of the cooked meat while listening to his instructions, nodding the whole time as I obviously know how to use a pick. It's slightly frustrating that they can't tell I'm way smarter, but I need to stay in their good side for the sake of the tribe.

When he gestures to approach, I do. I make note of how he tapped the perimeter though as it may be a sequence or a numpad or a key, and knowing that may serve me well later.

You see he taps the pole with a metal pole, and you see some resistance as the two touch. It seems to demagnetize the poles to let you pass.

The man gives you a pick while others roughly grab a few of the links, who come reluctantly as well over to you two, and they lead you all on a quick path toward the mountain, where you see that it opens at the base into a crude opening of a mine.

The man who gave you the pick gestures to the tablet again, then at the pick in your hand. After that, he shows you what is in another container-a box full of sizzling, delicious, roasted beef, just like the one you already ate. There's enough for the whole camp, but they only grabbed five links from your original group to come with you this time.

When the links get over to us I'll communicate quickly that we need to go into the mountain and I'll show them how to use these (gesturing to the picks) and when we get back I believe these people will be giving us all food.

I nod at the man giving me instructions, and beckon the links to follow me, pick over one shoulder and tablet in the other hand. When we're inside I'll show everyone the pictures on the tablet and how to use the picks against the wall to harvest the ore. And also explain that I'm sorry I don't have a better option yet, but we'll have to do this for now.

And I'm going to start looking for veins of the he ore and directing the links, having us all take turns between the heavy work of using the pick and the compatibly lighter work of picking up and moving the ore into the mine cart. I'll make sure we all rotate adequately with one person of the 6 of us taking a break in each cycle, to catch our breath and be on the he lookout for dangers, while 3 swing picks and 2 carrying ore.

Do our captors keep an eye on us after we enter the cave or wait by the mouth?

When I come back, I'm going to try and communicate with the captors again, once again trying to ask to be taught their language. Both through pantomime and English (the English at this point is just to keep myself sane and also prove that I know verbal non grunt language.

They stay at the mouth, and wait while you and the remaining links venture into the dark cave with nothing more than the daylight leaking in from the entrance and the artificial illumination of your alien tablet.

It takes actually finding a vein of iron ore, which you come across rather quickly in this natural cave formation, for the rest of the links to understand what you want them to do with their picks. You get a system going, taking the first watch yourself and using it to be sure that the links are striking the ore properly instead of the rock wall, and soon enough you start seeing results.

The rester takes time to look through the tablet pictures you show them and scout for ore while watching out for danger. On one of the trips back from delivering ore to the men at the mouth, a link comes back with a little bit of cooked beef and a gallon container of water for everyone to share.

Your captors are a total of two armed men, who you see are still waiting for you when you deliver an armful of iron ore one time. When you try to talk to them, one looks straight at you, nodding a little bit until the other smacks him on the back of his helmet. You don't hear any words, but the one who took an interest moves back to check out the ore that's been brought and leaves you to his stoic partner.

I'll make special note of the alien who nodded along a bit. In future days I'll try to communicate to him without the stoic one around. Not that I won't try with everyone, I'm trying to establish communication any time given the opportunity, but I'm focusing on any who give me positive reactions.

When the food and the meat gets back we'll all take a quick break to eat, to make sure we all get an equal share, and drink a bit, but I'm going to suggest we mainly take small drinks during the break period, to stay hydrated and not drink too fast.

Continue with the rotations until the men (edit: men referring to the aliens) seem done (most likely by telling me to gather the rest I imagine). Have I seen any dangers down here to explain why the aliens would go through the trouble of capturing us instead of doing it themselves or with their machines?

Edit for clarity
This message was last edited by the player at 14:06, Mon 14 July 2014.

You observe the one who took a bit of an interest, and see that he has a yellow band around his left boot that you haven't noticed on any of the others.

You have not seen any dangers inside the mines aside from regular worries that come with it-fear of striking a pocket of gas in the mine, cave ins, exhaustion.

They stay outside, letting you load ore onto their transport all day. You've made significant work in the side of the mine wall by the end of the day, and have almost filled the transport so full that you and your gang could barely fit on it.

They don't expressly tell you and the rest to climb on, but when the sun starts setting, it just feels right and you and the rest climb aboard. Stoic and Yellow Ankle Band take their seats in the driver and shotgun seats, while the rest of you climb in the back.

They drive you all back to camp, easily only a short walk from the mine entrance. They unload you all, and Yellow Band alien grabs the crate of meat and water, which he puts just inside the perimeter before touching one of the poles again to reactivate it. This alien stares at you briefly before turning back, and Stoic alien seems distracted by something.

There are still a couple aliens in the tower at the center of the camp as well.

When I have yellow band's attention, with Stoic being distracted, I'll once again quickly try to pantomime (being quiet this time, so not in english) that if he could get me something so I could learn their language and everything we could be so much more valuable to them. I know the link's language, if I know his I could coordinate larger teams that 5 and also it would allow me to understand exactly what's going on, and explain to these links so they're less scared.

The tower is the center, is it like a watch tower with guards watching us or does it look like there are people waiting to talk to me?

Also are the number of links in the camp the same? No removals or new people?

After talking to yellow band, I'll communicate to everyone they should come over and eat and drink. I'm hoping this starts buying me more trust from the members of the camp.

You try pantomiming to him that you're interested in learning their language, to which he shrugs his shoulders and nods his head. He grabs at your tablet, having to open the perimeter again with his metallic pole before stepping inside to mess with it.

You watch him open up a password-protected screen, which he unlocks and you see a download bar appear after he does so. It has a picture of some sort of alien fruit on it, and a brightly-colored letter you recognize from the keyboard in the background. He then moves it to the desktop where you have already navigated to before and opens it up for you. Then, he hands it back and walks out of the perimeter, setting it again.

He joins his Stoic friend and they head out together with the haul of iron.

It's a watchtower in the center with three of the aliens on it, less than vigilantly watching the links around the camp. Under the watchtower is a large, covered pavilion which is the only shelter in the established perimeter.

You see no new guests.

Everyone responds positively when you offer for them to come over and get some food. Before you get to the largest (least friendly) group, you head over to talk to the second to largest group to ask them to come over and eat. Then, you hear a scream, and look back to the location where you put the crate of food and water.

Some fifteen fighters you recognize from the largest group are pushing around the men and women who were nearest the crate, and they grab the crate to carry it. One of your camp's men stands in the way, and tackles one of the gang, but is quickly put down by the rest, who begin kicking him on the ground before he can rise.

I thank him after he unlocks more of the tablet, and remind myself to look towards it later.

When I hear the scream I rush over and yell as loud as I can to get everyones attention and to stop. I'm visibly angry at this point.

If they stop, I will start aggressively pantomiming that we will all share, it is not a request, it is a fact that they will follow. If they continue down the path they are on the food will stop, the water will stop, the support will stop, and slowly they will die an agonizing death due to their unwillingness to work together. Or they could share, and we all will have enough to eat and drink.

If they don't stop, or continue after my speech I'll motion to any able bodied warriors that are not allied with them to join with me as I rush into battle. I'm looking to incapacitate, but willing to break limbs to do so. Getting into the stance Big Link taught me and trying to get the jump on one before they have time to react, using the Choke attack.

You shout and rally six or seven men, and three catch up to help you, running by your side from the second to largest group you were just talking to.

The ten of you charge the others, while you shout and pantomime to no effect with the violent links. You can see the link in the middle of them, bloody and bruised already and just curling up to avoid what damage he can.

You're the first to reach them, and grab one from behind while he's about to stomp on the victim's head. Your arm comes around him and you seize him in a simple hold, slowly squeezing to make him pass out as he grabs your arms roughly in surprise. The two of you fall onto the ground, and you get glimpses of the fight starting around you, links falling onto each other and knocking one another down for better position.

But the one you're fighting starts resisting with renewed strength as he steals a breath of air, and you can feel him start to pull himself free from your choke hold.

I'm going to focus on keeping the choke hold for a little more and shout out to my allies to assist me, and if one of the links that I trained with the spears is in the area, specify to punch this link in the face. I'm hoping this will cause enough pain to distract him and let me re-establish the choke hold and knock him out. If not as I feel him about to get away I'm going to release the choke hold and move for his arm and attempt to break his arm by smashing his elbow. (that doesn't fit into any of the moves I know, so not sure how we would handle that)

I'm being more vicious than I normally would be as we're outnumbered and I feel responsible to come to the aid of the men who came to my side in this.

You feel your heart pounding, but only barely in the heat of the fight. Sometimes you feel others' limbs bumping up against you and you see your allies and enemies both in pain in the midst of violence.

You redouble your efforts to keep your hold on the link in your grips, but as you try to reposition for a better hold, he slips loose. You grab for his arm, but he snatches it back quickly enough before you can and with a hand on your back, he slams you onto the ground. You feel air get pushed from your lungs.

While you're disoriented, you feel someone straddle on your back and put a firm arm around your neck, choking you now.

As soon as I realize I'm now the one being choked my left hand immediately goes to grab the arm and try to keep air coming in while I try to repeatedly punch my attacker in the face. (Not the most effective angle to punch from, but getting punched in here face should hurt enough all the same.)

If I manage to escape I'll get to my feet as quickly as possible and spin around and kick the link that was attacking me as he's getting up.

If I don't manage to escape, continue trying until I either escape or pass out.

You try to slip your arm between his and your throat, but fail. Still, you press him and feel his muscles strain as you push with all your strength to free yourself from his choke. It feels like you're in the same iron pinning that Big Link used to do back by the river, but you press on harder, with all you have.

Slowly, you feel like he's almost about to give when the darkness starts creeping in the corners of your eyes, and then your lungs start to burn. Finally, it's like you're telling some distant self to push helplessly against the arm secured firmly around your throat until you feel nothing at all, and lose your sight and then your consciousness to the darkness.

OOC: I need to know if you believe that you have any claim to ownership over that alien tablet.

----

We'll be moving to a new chapter in Glantri's adventure, titled "Grounding Glantri" when Oak has an opportunity to put it up.