DaftNES 2022

[Daftpanzer]

First of all, a big thankyou to everyone who has contributed to my projects over the years, and apologies for all the ones that stalled or died too soon. I’m continually prone to overexpansion in my projects, and also perhaps worrying a little too much about realism at the expense of fun, and trying to cram in too much potential features right from the start. That has led to more than one game that never made it past the tribal era.

Safe to say the last few years have allowed some time to reflect on things.

This project is intended to be more lightweight and manageable, with a focus on player interactions and choices, and rapid progression. It’s also a chance for me to return to my pixel art hobby - you may recognise the core set of sprites. It’s also a kind of mix-up/tribute to various past projects of mine - NEB1, Alternate Timeline Experiment, Nesse, NEScraft, among others!

---

It’s a blank-slate world. The ice-ages have ended, and players start as a stone-age tribe living in caves with similar stone tools. From here it’s up to you!

I’m happy for technology progression to be fast if players focus on this. However, I don’t want to force people down the route of building a settled civilization. I’d like this to be a game where it’s perfectly viable to be nomads for a big chunk of history (it’s not like nomads didn’t accumulate key technology and skills).

Also, I’m happy for players to join forces and work together on a city-state, empire or tribal confederation, each playing as a different faction thereof. The mechanics are meant to be quite simple and flexible in that regard.

Mechanics

Spoiler :

The map is split into roughly hexagonal tiles/zones each with different climates, animals, plants and resources to exploit. Boats are needed to travel between islands, even those in the same tile.

Animals are mobile just like humans, and can be assumed to roam across the map somewhat, though the icons on the map represent areas of highest population.

At the start of the game, you have 2 Actions Points and one Leadership Point to spend.

---

Action Points represent the human effort available to you (eventually this may become ‘Eco Points’). At the start, this is 1:1 with your population. If your population gets hungry, sick or demoralised, AP will be lowered from the baseline. Whereas if your people are well-fed, happy and motivated, it will rise.

AP can be spent on various tasks. Do you want to risk going hunting to get lots of food and resources such as hides? Do you want to cautiously forage for anything edible in the undergrowth? Do you want to build some boats? Do you want to start building a village, or maybe even a fortification, or a monument of some kind? Do you want to start experimenting with agriculture, or taming wild animals? Do you want to craft some better weapons for hunting, or tools for cutting down trees, or nets for going fishing? Perhaps even make portable tents and clothes to help survive out in the wild? Do you want to attack a neighbouring tribe or go trading peacefully? All of these could be individual actions.

At this point I’d prefer to avoid writing out a big list of what is and isn’t an action - but I can make one if needed. Feel free to ask for any clarifications.

One thing to clarify, you don’t *need* to focus on any food gathering actions at the start, it’s not that everyone will instantly starve, but it will help your population growth if you do.

---

Leadership Points represent the higher-level focus of your people. At the start of the game, you may think of this as having a choice between a unifying chief, an inspirational shaman, a great healer, a master craftsperson, a master hunter, or a legendary warrior, as just some ideas. Perhaps a leader with a bit of a mix of traits.

In general, the more you repeat spending on one of these aspects, the more momentum is gained in that direction, and the more traditions and bonuses develop. But be aware that it can be difficult to suddenly change direction, as factions with vested interests will develop.

Again I want to give players a lot of freedom here. I can create a list of acceptable categories/characters if needed, but just a couple of key areas to think about below:

Government - as populations expand, they will simply drift off into (mostly friendly) NPC factions unless some investment is made in organising larger groups of people. Without this, it will be tricky to reliably control more than 2-3 units of population at a time! The beginnings of government would perhaps be with some kind of Chieftain / Chieftess position, and/or a tribal council.

Faith / Religion - with our modern mindset, it’s hard to imagine a time when there were no scientific answers for explaining the world around us. Something I think that been overlooked in many of ours NESes: humans are prone to irrational ritualistic behaviours, and this was a big deal in ancient times and I will try to reflect that here. Fear of the unknown, fear of the forces of nature is a huge driving force for early civilization. Thus, you can invest in some kind of faith or religion that calms people’s fears and encourages a certain code of morality and sense of unity, even in times of crisis.

In simple terms, you can either use your leadership points to gain more AP per turn, or get a boost to a particular action - but I’ll try to model some of the more complex effects where I can.

---

Movement

You need some population in a tile to be able to do any actions there (represented by human icons on the map). However, given the timescales of each turn, movement into neighbouring tiles (and back again, if desired) will not count as an action itself. Roads may extend this later; boats can also do longer round trips as skills with seafaring increase.

To move further across the map, I’m going to say that you must spend 1 AP per unit of population that is going to go on a migration / exploration. This also counts for moving long distances by boat. Again given the timescales of each turn, there’s no upper limit to the distance travelled in a migration, but movements may be blocked by random events, accidents or the actions of other players.

Some Additional Rules

Spoiler Upkeep :

Upkeep where it appears is automatically deducted from the amount of available AP shown in the stats. However you can choose not to pay some or all of the upkeep in order to claw the AP back.

Who pays upkeep? People with governments, organised religion, infrastructure that needs maintenance, houses to repair, farms and herds that require constant attention (though the AP cost here will also be producing food), boats to repair, and especially military units to supply.

The demands of survival in hostile terrain - cold or arid - is also baked into upkeep. This is the extra effort needed to get water, firewood etc.

Can I actually not pay maintenance? yes you can, absolutely, and get some or all of that AP back to spend this turn. But bad things can happen (semi-randomised), from corruption and minor starvation to military mutiny, civil war and societal collapse, depending on how much upkeep is skipped. Feel free to ask me for more details!

Spoiler Military Units :

You can create a dedicated military unit that is better at fighting that your average unit of population. They’ll be noted on the map by the chevrons above their heads, coloured to match the faction colour.

At this point it costs 1 AP to raise a basic spear-armed warrior from your population, improved weapons and armour not included (at least 1 AP extra to make either of those). It does not do normal jobs and so will probably add somewhere between 0.5 and 1 AP of upkeep per turn, depending - and perhaps more for elite, well-equipped units. So it would be quite a project to fully outfit a large army, and having a large military population could tank your AP production pretty quickly (of course, this may be fine if you are surviving by just stealing food and resources from others).

Military units can gain experience (this should appear as extra chevron symbols on the map).

Inanimate objects will count as equipment, not military units themselves. So you can have a navy, but it’s the fighting sailors that are the actual unit, not the boat. This also means you’ll need an available population unit to man them. Same goes for any siege weapons, cavalry animals and etc, which you can attach or detach to existing units.

Military units don’t require AP spending to go and attack someone nearby, that’s a free action unless the target is beyond the adjacent hexes/tiles. In which case it’s 1AP per unit to travel as far as you like, natural / manmade obstacles notwithstanding. This is the same as the ‘migration’ rule for general population units that I posted in the roles.

You can of course, disband military units, and *hope* that they put their weapons and gear in storage and go back to being a normal population unit…

I hope that covers everything, but again feel free to ask me here or on discord.

The World



Now for a tour around the world - a little bit of info on the different starting positions (click map for big version)

Spoiler :

With rising sea levels, a group of humans find themselves stranded on a rather rainy, windswept island at Start A. It has rugged peaks but also some sheltered forest and wild berries, supporting herds of deer. Large bears also roam the forest and compete for cave sites. There are also interesting shiny rocks on the island. The local humans are predominantly red-haired, green-eyed and fairly short and stocky in build, adapted to the cool damp climate.

Start B is on a peninsular with brutal winters but also mild summers in sheltered valleys. Bears and wolves add to the dangers and large ravens circle overhead, waiting to feast on the remains of fallen hunters. There is no shortage of interesting stones. The locals are tall, predominantly blond and blue eyed and have adapted for the cold.

Moving south we cross an area of fertile temperate forest bordered on all sides by hills and mountains. It is a thunderdome of dangerous animals; sabre-tooth cats, giant wild boar, and cave hyenas are all capable of killing humans. Even the local wild cattle are huge and armed with ferocious horns. So far no humans have moved here permanently.

Start C has a more mediterranean climate which can be quite dry during the summer, limiting vegetation to shrubland and broken forest. The mountain valleys are stalked by wolves and giant eagles, preying on local deer and agile wild goats. The land also offers particularly shiny rocks and wild grapes. The locals are of medium build with grey eyes and curled brown hair, and especially thick beards in the males.

Start D has a hot savannah climate and sparse woodlands. Periods of intense rainfall lead to short, intense growing seasons for wild grass and large migrations of animals, and also create temporary wetlands. There are many large and dangerous animals here. The locals are fairly tall and muscular, and dark in skin and hair.

To the south lies a rainforest peninsular that is said to be home to ferocious, highly-territorial beast-men and a number of other evils.

Crossing the shallow, warm sea to the east, and its habitable islands, we reach an arid landscape in the rain-shadow of the great continental highlands.

Start E is a land of extremes, with the hottest and driest desert that is bordered to the east by a flow of cool water from the mountains. This creates a fertile floodplain where abundant grasses can grow. This in turn attracts antelope and water buffalo, as well as crocodiles and lions. Flash floods can also be hazard along this river. The local humans here are fairy dark in skin and hair, and average build.

Start F is a high-altitude landscape with freezing mountain peaks. Particularly brilliant and shiny rocks are found in some of the caves. A few sheltered valleys support vegetation and hardy wildlife including yak-like beasts and wild rams. Mountain lions and eagles prey upon these. There can be surprisingly little rain in summer, with meltwater being the main source of water. The local humans have reddish skin and are adapted for high elevations. Only a few mountain passes lead in and out of this region.

The great mountain range extends to a lower plateau in the south. This is warmer and drier, with only a few hardy plants and animals living here. Among them, however, are some of the biggest and meanest bears on the planet.

Start G is a fertile and temperate forest, watered by rainfall from the east. It is dangerous place, with tigers and man-eating giant boars, not to mention elephants and a number of other ill-tempered beasts. Yet some humans have carved out a place here, mostly sheltering along the western riverbanks. They are rather slim built and light-skinned, perhaps betraying origins further north.

Start H is a tropical jungle, not quite a rainforest, as it does have drier and wetter seasons. The terrain is broken by small plateaus at different elevations, supporting many different species - many of them dangerous. Gigantic beasts roam here, relatives of rhinos that are bigger than even the largest mammoths of the north. Wild chickens and smaller boars are also found here. The locals are fairly short and agile in build, with olive skin.

Crossing the sea to the south, we reach a raised island continent that is largely surrounded by steep cliffs, with only a few accessible beaches. If this land was connected to the mainland at one time, it has nonetheless maintained some unique and strange species of marsupials, and is home to horrifying giant flightless terror-birds that mimic their dinosaur ancestors.

Start I is located in fairly hot, fairly dry highland, but is located in the more habitable half of the island continent. Local trees are adapted to irregular rainfall and can be tapped as a source of water. The local humans have only garbled tales of their origin, and indeed may not believe anything exists beyond their island. They are fairly short and robust in build, and have light hair with red and blonde tones, in contrast to their darker skin.

 

[Daftpanzer]

UPDATES / Turn history

Turn 1 - Neolithic ages
Turn 2 - Neolithic ages continued
Turn 3 - High Neolthic / early Chalcolithic (copper)
Turn 4 - High Neolithic / Chalcolithic continued
Turn 5 - Eastern Bronze age / Western Chalcolithic / Yorndyr migrations
Turn 6 - Continental Bronze Age - Polnar Conquests - Western Hill Forts

Turn 7 - in progress!

Orders deadline not yet set

 

[Daftpanzer]

Joining?

All the original starting points have either been claimed, or turned into functional NPC cultures.

New players are very welcome. Please see the latest update (linked above) and you can claim any of the NPC cultures, including splinter groups from other players.

Strong suggestions are the Yorndyr (in the north-west) or the Chappa Eih, as they have the largest populations and amount of Action Points.

 

[Angst]

Player name: Angst
First choice: Start A
Second choice: Start B
I am happy to split my starting point with another player: yes

-

I'm imagining a naval civ hopefully to harvest dyes or ocean life with healing properties, with the sea as the primary focus of the religion somehow; maybe seen as a living entity, maybe having some function.

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

Player name: Kyzarc
First preference for start location: Start F
Second preference for start location: Start A/Start I
I am happy to split my starting point with another player: yes/no: not a dealbreaker, but I'd prefer no

love playing insular mountain folks, with insular islands folks being a solid second.

 

[J.A.M.]

Player name: JAM
First preference for start location: Start I
Second preference for start location: Start F, Start A
I am happy to split my starting point with another player: YES, singleplayer on a perceived world unto myself would feel meh

I imagine a great era devoted to taming the terror birds, the psychopomps of the gods and the dealers of death to us mere mortals. Huge structures will be needed to house the birbs, a massive chain of supplies will need to be organized to feed the livestock, and of course the "little" birbs will be needed to be tamed to serve as foodstuffs.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Player name: Thomas.berubeg
First choice: Start C
Second choice: Start A
I am happy to split my starting point with another player: yes

I'm picturing a happy raiding/trading people, taking a bit from all our neighbors.

 

[Terrance888]

Player name: Terrance888
First preference for start location: Start C
Second preference for start location: Start D/E
I am happy to split my starting point with another player: Yes

Sour Grapes Turn 1 - Dequus Tribe
Sour Grapes Turn 2 - Dequus Tribe
Sour Grapes Turn 3 - Deqline Culture with Deqlides Mysticism
Sour Grapes Turn 4 - Deqline Culture with Deqlides Mysticism

 

[Daftpanzer]

Thank you guys! I've attached a claims map to this post. It looks like Terrance and Thomas would be happy to share a starting point initially - the way I see that happening is each gets one Action Point and one Leadership Point.

I will wait a wee while to see if anyone else wants to join, but otherwise I'll be happy to get the ball rolling.

 

[Terrance888]

Sour Grapes Tribe Turn 1

This land is not rich, and already it has been split by peoples with different priorities. The Sour Grapes tribe is known for for the wild grapes where they often gather.

Action 1 - Craft Weapons for Hunting and War.
The first step in defining themselves is defining who they are not. And their neighbors are quite suspicious for trusting in a leadership of another.

Leadership 1 - Tairosh the Wolf Caller is a shaman and watcher of nature. His Leadership Focus is to Ally with the Wolves.
Seeing that they too live in tribes, in their own way, he howls at the moon, hoping to establish a pact.

EDIT:
Tribe/Culture Name - Dequus

Color - Reddish-Brown

Decorations - Wolf fang necklaces. Wood ash markings

Words -

Uwuca: Wolves
Tila: Grapes/Berries
Tileen: Grape Juice/Grape Bunches
Effica: Creation/Crafting, especially of tools or weapons

 

[J.A.M.]

Ohpauh Eh (Unfeathered Guides) Turn 1 (EDITED)

Birds come in many shapes and sizes. There are small ones that guide us to honey, and ones as large as us that can run fast as the wind. There are larger ones too: the huge guide eaters tall as a hut and the massive spirit guardians that quake the trees as they run. We unfeathered guides know our duty is to shepherd these feathered folk and swell their numbers while ensuring their sustainability.

Action 1: Plant water tapping trees across the land, preferentially around our camps.
Without us, the birds will suffer. So we must ensure we have enough resources to care for ourselves.

Action 2: Acclimate the swift birds to our presence through food and touch.
Start small: The greatest spirit guardians must first grow from a hatchling.

Leadership 1: Establish a tradition of becoming a community leader: touch the egg of a spirit guardian and make it back to camp alive.
Through cunning or speed, a few exceptional folks might take the reigns by touching the divine.

Colours: Think clay-red as primary, and beak-yellow as secondary.

Decorations: Bird skulls and feathers, simple clay paints.

Language: Looking at a few emu videos, gonna say the sound for feathered is 'pupupupupu', 'pauh' for short. Un as a adjective/adverb thingy would be different whether it is like "Not!" or "Without". So like, open mouth 'oh' for without, and a more aggressive teeth baring 'rouh' for not. The word for Guides doesn't make me think of any connotation past a vaguely pleasant/friendly one, so that'd be something like 'eh', but with a forceful breath kinda because it is said with a smile.

I'm naming these birbs: swift birds are the ones on the left, guide eaters are to the right. Spirit guardians are the biggest ones that live on the red plains.

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

Trasque Turn 1 (edited)
The Skypeople of Trasque have always known they were the children of the sky. Unfortunately they know that this exalted position has drawn the ire of the lesser beasts of the ground, who often seek to hunt them, and as such they're forced to hide from their beloved sky in caves. They cannot live forever in the caves though, the goats on which they subsist must wander widely for feed and while we stalk them, vicious lions stalk us.

Action 1: Attempt to corral some of the goat herds as best we can. If we can keep them in a single place for protracted periods of time then it'll be easier for us to eat them and easier to keep the mountain lions from doing so themselves.
Action 2: Make thick clothing from goat hides. The winters are cold and the claws of the fierce lions are sharp. The hides of goats aren't much, but they're thicker than our own skins and much warmer.

Leadership 1: Eyes-Of-Obsidian-Which-Pierce-The-Truth is known to be the greatest knapper in the land, her obsidian points are capable of piercing even the hide of the great Cave Bears. As such she holds the respect of the hunters, who compete to be the ones most worthy of wielding her work. Her focus is to Arm the Tribe that they may wrest the holy mountain from the vicious predators that prowl its surface.

Colour (Color): Grey

Decorations: Goat horns and grey goathides

Random words / names (optional): I'll see what I can throw together, might just reuse some stuff wholesale from a prior game
Some language stuff

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Whooo boy! Very excited to join up. Will post application shortly.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Start D please

 

[Daftpanzer]

Updated claim map attached!

Now officialy accepting Turn 1 orders. A couple of people already sent them, which is great. It's not too late to change them. More players are always welcome still.

Orders format is pretty much as already posted by terrance, but I'd also like to request a few extra details if you have the time:

----

Tribe/Culture name - I think it would be nice to have non-english names for our cultures, if you can think of one (leave blank if if you'd prefer me to think of something for you)

Action Point (AP) spending - all players have 2 points, except for Terrance and Thomas.Berubeg who have 1 each due to sharing a start location.

Leadership Point (LP) spending - all players have 1 points.

Colour (Color)- desired colour for text and any other icons on the map.

Decorations - any kind of headress, body paint, basic clothing that you'd like your peeps to wear? Bearing in mind they won't have full clothing unless/until some AP is spent to make them.

Random words / names (optional) - any random words for things in your tribe's language? I know that language invention is not everyone's thing, so feel free to leave this blank. I just thought it might help me find names for things in future, without having to track people down and ask them mid-update

---

I'm hereby setting a deadline for 11:59PM UK time, Wednesday 8th June, for Turn 1 orders. If you can get them in earlier that would be great, as I am actually not working for the next two days and have more time on my hands, so the update could come sooner.

Thanks again

 

[LordArgon]

Player name: LordArgon
First preference for start location: H
Second preference for start location: E
Yes

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Tribe/Culture name - Alicorn

Action Point (AP) spending - 1 AP - There are goats, and they have warmth, which we do not have - Take it from them, hunt them down, and bind them to our tribe (Attempt to domesticate the local goats)

Leadership Point (LP) spending - 1LP Albac the Goat-Theif, stole the goats from their homes and made them live here. Her focus is to domesticate the goats.

Colour (Color)- Red

Decorations - Goat Skins, with leaders wearing goat-horns on their heads

 

[Angst]

Salt Children Turn 1
Angst
Prefered color: Dark deep blue or black.
They call themselves Ger uKal (Lit. Ger: children, u: upwards-from, Kal: sea; Ukal means salt (the word for salt is literally upwards-from-sea), so their own definition is kind of a double meaning)

Action 1
Shipbuilding. In short, master woodworking as much as possible and better shipbuilding.

For possibilities Develop woodworking in general. Cultivate certain trees to certain conditions of growth for coppicing and other specialized functions, etc.

Action 2
Fishing. Use the boats to gather food from the fruits of the sea.

For possibilities - Maybe gain knowledge about migration of sealife; know which mussles to grind for dyes if any. Larger fish bones, maybe amber and barnacle shells and such, are used for intricate 'jewelry'.

EDIT: This attire can inspire decorations. Fishing spears, sea-gathered 'jewelry'.

Leadership
Mag enEldom (Lit. Mag: song, en: out-from, Eldom: whale), originally named Sog (Etym. from Sol's Aga, lit. Solog: scale, 's: designates an adjective, Aka: beautiful). After having disappeared for months, the fisherman Sog returned, obviously in disarray, and lead his tribe down to the sea. He showed them a stranded whale carcass, said the whale had swallowed him, and that he had lived in it for all this time. While the villagers were doubtful, he told them captivating stories of where the whale had taken him, deep below the sea, to meet many creatures. In particular, the story of Kal Sasa's Golon stuck (Lit. Kal: sea, Sasa: mother, 's designates an adjective, Golon: awestrikingly great). The Great Seamother was a whale so large it contained the sky itself; as such the sea contains the world, and the world the sea. Sog's frazzled stories made the village call him Mag enEldom.

For possibilities, the stories spread among the Salt Children's tribes. If so, I have a few suggestions. At the beginning they were stories of curiosity, because of their unfathomability, the concept one of pondering, but as time went on it would develop into a mythology. The practices become known as Whalesong or Domag. (Etym. from Eldom Mag, lit. Eldom: whale, Mag: song).
Probable concepts of Domag:
- Mag enEldom is a figure of myth, and his travels below the sea's surface accounts for many stories, usually told with music.
- The world is contained by the Great Seamother, a gargantuan whale, that at the same time lives deep in the ocean.
- The seeming impossibility of this means the ocean's nature is divine; but beautiful and calm, ineffably vast and terrifying.
- The ocean is to be worshipped with ritual sacrifice, and the migrations of sea life has spiritual connotations in Salt Children culture.
- "The Whale" that swallowed Mag enEldom becomes another character that has dialogue in the stories.
- The absurdity of it forms some stories that are childlike, such as the two wrongfully stealing a sacred pearl from a giant talking oyster, which causes a great flood. Some stories are more adult, as the sea is full of terrifying things; the nature of these are less about sharks, and more about creepy slimy things, creatures that hide in the sands, unfathomable squidlike demons, etc.
- Some stories can serve to explain natural events. The oyster part explains floods, but there are many other things; where the stars come from, how earth was formed, mountains, earthquakes, storms, etc.

-

And I expect to develop the language as the turns proceed. This is the language as is at the time of the turn. ^^

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Tribe/Culture name - Toltec

Action Point (AP) spending -

I: Carve structures (Swales) into the ground to channel and control the flood waters so that they may slowly seep into the land and be stored longer, providing areas that don't totally desiccate.
II: Build structures of wood and hide that can be collapsed and moved at will to support a nomadic season

Leadership Point (LP) spending - Seasonal nomadic existence. When the weather dries, we settle to lands we know will hold water, but in better times we roam the land, following the herds and grow fat off their bounty. It takes a leader to know when to move, where to move, and how to ensure his people move when he say to.

Colour (Color)- Purple

Decorations -

When licking a certain rare frog, when boys become men, they must dance the dance of their people to prove their true worth!

Random words / names (optional) - Tol = tall tec = people

 

[TerrisH]

Player name: Terrish
First preference for start location: Start G
Second preference for start location: Start I
I am happy to split my starting point with another player: yes

Tentative plan depending on acceptance

Spoiler :

Tribe/Culture name - Oxlen
Action Point (AP) spending -
1: simi-domesticating the oxen/cattle that are within the tile. simi-nomadic movement to follow where their herds go, protecting them from smaller predators and helping them with larger ones, shooing/hunting other herbivores away from where they are grazing, occasionally culling one of the herd for meat and leather etc… We help the herd protect itself, and in return it supplies us when times are lean.
2: (if I have it) development of basic leather goods. In order of priority: hide tents, tool straps/bindings, a leather shield, leather shoes, bags, hide outfits, then whatever else we need or can think of.

Leadership Point (LP) spending -
Pol-Ox, or the "protector of the herd". The name our leader holds traces back to how the tribe first befriended a member of the herd, Tenlensha. Of a human hunter, stumbling upon a battle between a tiger and a small herd of oxen. The oxen were putting on a brave defense, inflicting minor wounds upon the tiger already, yet not enough to force it to look for a safer meal. Perhaps it was a bit of glory seeking of a young, or a more calculated move of an older man. But the hunter intervened and threw a spear at the tiger, seeing that such a strike from ambush might bring it down. While the wound was great, it was not enough to fell the beast, but it did cause it to turn away from the oxen. Who wasted no time in taking advantage of that fact, a pair of them ramming their horns into the tigers side.
Few believed his tale when he returned to the tribe with the tigers' corpse, yet this was the start of our bonding with the oxen. More and more would we encounter them, learning of them and their strength. Learning of the bounty that could be ours simply by following and helping them. Pol-Oxtenlensha would eventually lead the tribe to approach and bind themselves to one of the larger herbs, becoming the first "protector of the herd".

Color (Color)- Light blue

Decorations - carved horn ornaments, body paint related to the herd we protect, perhaps trying to mimic the color of their hide, or put images of them upon ourselves, so we may be lent their strength. When simple leather goods come around, simple leather skirts and shoes will be the main forms of clothing.

Random words / names (optional) -
Names of a person are simi-fluid. All have a single large name given at birth, usually with "len (people)" in the middle of it. But as a person grows and learns, additions will be added to a person name to symbolize great moments or role with the tribe. "hur (hunt): might be added to a person name who is a major hunter for the tribe, or removed if they grow too old to do so. Like wise for other position/roles but not limited to: "Pol"(protector), Bel (leather binder), chi (good cook), och (old child)(slight insulting term for older child that doesn't have a role in the tribe). And of course, Pol-Ox (Protector of the herd). There are likely several more possible additions for task of great honor. Like killing a major predator without any help. Or inventing something new for the tribe to use.