/ooc Through investigation of the chat log, I deduced that Lincoln was met on turn 13, goody hut (Sahushunas village) popped on turn 14, and hut was at 8N6W of Arete (nice name for ancient founding city)
The Discovery of the Sahashunas People and how the Triad learnt about Sahashunas ways to tame pigs, dogs and horses
My name is Gaiyut, the Tracker, and I am a scout for the Warband lead by Prochon, the hunt master. Prochon has set orders for me to run out ahead every morning to scout the advance for the warband. The warriors are strong and fierce, but they are too large of a group and would be seen by others long before our warriors would understand what they were walking into. I am fast, a great runner and tracker, the result of my native haritage in these lands.
The following is my account of the Sahashunas people, and how they agreed to join our people, and teach us the mysteries of Animal Husbandry, the knowledge of raising Animals to work with us, to fead us, and to clothe us.
On the 13th week of our journey since leaving Arete, the world was just beginning to wake, and already I had ranged a couple leagues ahead of the warband, which had camped to the East on the plains near the river, that runs through the "Paradis hills", as Prochon and others in our Warband had taken to calling the region to the East. The Paradise Hills region is a wonder to behold. I must tell you that they will take your breath away my people! From the moment we set foot there, we felt it. It is truly a wondrous place of many natural wonders. There is one hill with chunks of a shiny yellow stone that is cold to the touch, yet will nearly glow with fire when the first rays of the sun hit it in the morning. At the Eastern edge, there are enormous beasts with large white bones jutting from their mouths and huge arms hanging off their faces and thick hides that could turn away a spear. Watching the sunrise from the hills many proud ridges is almost enough to make one want to leave the sea behind and settle here. That story is for another to tell perhaps, but the place is too gorgeous not to mention.
That morning, as I ran toward the west through a seamingly endless sea of grass, using the long stride of my people, I didn't feel the sea of grasses pass beneath me. More so, I felt the simple flow of time and the cool morning air and the refreshing dampness on my legs from the low hanging dew. It had been a great morning for running, and I could see for ever in the never ending grasses.
The grassy sea began to thin somewhat, and I saw rocky hills and sandy soil approaching me, and the ground was becoming harder, and more gritty. The air began to smell much drier with the promise of heat and long hours running without water. Here, I saw a village built near a small creek that ran off toward the east (/ooc Creaks are not to be thought of as a "river" is in game terms).
I stopped my stride and crouched in the grasses, easing a stone into my sling, and loosening my flint spear in case the villagers proved to be hostile. Through the tall blades of grass, I saw some famers rising out of their wood frame huts that were covered in animal skins. Not far from the village was a large area, where the grass had been beaten down or roughly cut, and there was some kind of wood structure, bearly knee high and built by lashing tree limbs and brush together. My curiosity was peaked!
"What could be inside such an area?" I had wondered.
Thoughts of the previous week, when we our Warband had encountered a strange people, who called themselves the 'Babylonians', and carried strange weapons that could reach you from the edge of sight, brought my hackles up, and I hastily scanned the nearby hills for signs of these strange people. Seeing none, I cautiously approached the village.
When I was a hundred spans from the edge of the enclosed area, I got a glimps of some small animals that lived in a small hut and made this strange clucking noise as they pecked at seeds on the ground. To the right, I saw some boar sleeping near a mud pit, and now, I spotted a few other four-legged furry animals with small horns on their heads that made this strange rattling sound. I was wrapped in wonder. I've hunted animals my whole life, so it wasn't the animals themselves that gave me pause, it was that they weren't running away from me. My hackles began to rise. Surely, this was not the work of natural men!
As I began to back away, a wolf-like animal ran up toward me, barking and snarling! I raised my spear to defend myself, but it didn't attack, it stayed its ground and barked and howled. Then it dawned on me! This creature was guarding this area. I didn't know what to make of it, it was nearly too much. Then I heard a young boys voice yell out, 'Paka! Paka! Cam qik Paka! Sook!' I turned to the noise with one eye on the wolf thing snarling at me. A large burly man stood up from where he had been doing something with one of the furry horned animals and began to approach me, raising a hand to the boy. The boy stood his ground about 200 spans from me and split his gaze between me and the large man, who was apparently his father.
'Who are you?' He bellowed. The wolf thing ignored the big man, and kept focusing on me. I dared not make a sudden movement. Things were beginning to become clearer to me. This man somehow controlled all of the animals within my range of sight. At the time, I thought this man was truly magnificent.
'My name is Gaiyut!' I told him. Putting down my sling and slowly stepping away from the wolf thing, I held out my hands palms up, hoping that my movements would appear to be peaceful. 'I mean you no harm. I am an explorer far away from home. Your animals made me curious. I've never seen such a thing!'
The big man crossed his arms and looked at me like I had two heads. 'What you mean? Aint you never seen a dog, chickens, pigs, and goats before?'
I hastily tried to remember what he was telling me...this sounded very important. 'Seen them yes (I lied) but not in such a way as to be under the control of people...unafraid of people.'
'Are you a Savage? I'll have Hindy tear you into scraps for the hogs if ye are!'
'No! Please, no! I am a scout from a large settlement far to the South East. I wager we know a great deal from which your people would be greatly served.'
'My People? 'We...' as he struggled with the word, are the Sahashunas, people of the Grass Sea.'
'Hindy back off, it's alright!' And the wolf thing, dog, calmed down, whimpered, and sniffed my feat with a toung hanging out of its mouth and strolled easily back to the 'pens' as the man had called them.
'Thank you! Could we talk somewhere inside, I would very much like to see if there is a way both our people can help each other.'
'Name's Majaal, and I'll take you to our clan hall and let the elders decide.'
At the Clan Hall, I met with 4 men, and we interrogated eachother for hours over what life was like out here on the Grassy Sea, about things I had seen while exploring, about my people, about the wonders to be found in the waters near Arete, and about how we had mastered farming and the wheel. Stories about The Wheel and about Fishing brought me the same slack jawed look I had no doubt had when discussing what they called Animal Husbandry. Soon, we were all laughing and back slapping about old stories, and it became apparent that our people shared common ancestry.
The Sahashunas also agreed with our supicions toward the Babylonians.
When I mentioned that I was actually scouting ahead for a Warband, the elders took no time at all in announcing that they'd gladly join our people at Arete in exchange for an escort and the chance to keep their animals out of the hands of Savages, wild animals, and the Babylonians.
The Sahashunas are a simple people that share ancient ancestry with our people, and who also hold knowledge that is new to us. With the news of this discovery, I ran like a deer and the world fell into a blurr, as I headed back toward the Warband. Prochon agreed without hesitation to lend 50 warriors to escort the Sahashunas to Arete.
Our people are truly blessed with good fortune to now have two villages, who have joined our people, bringing new knowledge to us.
Long live our People!
~Gaiyut, the Tracker