MigratioNES: The Grandest Tale Ever Told

You bring up a good point Novice Writer, but in your case we're dealing with a subspecies with a population of probably a few hundred thousand, spread across an inland sea about 1000km across, so there's probably enough contact between different parts of your group that they'd share a decent number of words and linguistic structures. There are likely many different simple dialects among your people, picking any one arbitrary term would be suitable enough.

Just to be clear, not every Fumo speaks the same language, same for every Amalyap. At this scale, they're probably better described as language families, and over such a long timespan, the language spoken at the start of the update is going to be incomprehensible to the direct descendants of that group by the end of the update. Names for cultures here are for convenience, and to give a bit of a sense for the 'sound' of a people.

I suspect that the system will start to better simulate reality once we get to a point where the timescale is smaller.

 

I agree

 

The Apalo, following the coasts and waterways, continue to wander further and further afield. Many have taken to building small skin boats and rafts, hunting the beasts and fish of the water. The supplement in Omega 3s allows development of larger brains, which, in conjunction the long limbs of the Coast-Apalo becoming very agile and precise, allows them greater dextrousnes.

The Inner apalo also benefit from these morphological changes, as the long limbs allow them to heave rocks further, and the developing brains allow for greater socialization.

 

NVM on the name- it wasn't a big deal in the first place.

Also, we should probably note that by definition the Kuku began along the most fruitful seas and rivers. The new, more brainy Apalo won't be as brainy as their Kuku counterparts.

I'm stuck on orders for now, but when I've got my ideas together I'll edit them in here.

 

Yeah, the Cao/Kuku (I think I'll treat it that Cao is an ethonym for some of the swimmers, while Kuku is a general Exonym used by the Fumo) are probably the smartest humans around right now. However, they're also much more specialized than the Apalo, and generally don't do well away from waterways. They're great swimmers, but they're less efficient walkers. Generally, Cao who get driven from the water end up dying out at the hands of their terrestrial rivals, who are much more competent in the drylands.

Coastal Apalo probably fall in second place. Of course, intelligence develops in different ways in different environments, so it's difficult to make an absolute comparison.

 

I'd argue that, at this level, greater intelligence mostly means a greater social intelligence.


Edit: Raw intellectual power, I'd imagine everyone is pretty close together.

 

Well, we're at a point where there's still a degree of variation that can arise between different human species. There's a lot that's still unknown about early human intellectual (IE pre-sapiens) capacities.

That said, I agree that social intelligence and group coordination are pretty damn important when it comes to ultimately forming a civilization. At any rate, no one's cerebral hardware is overwhelmingly superior or inferior at this point in time.

 

This looks like good fun, let me know if I'm being too extra or need to be more extra

Name: Apa'al

Origin: Offshoot of the northeastern Apalo (if that's okay with everybody). Willing to trade intellect for raw strength and brawn; however, above all, speed. Among the few words in the limited vocabulary of the Apa'al, there are at least four for north: Akh, which has a connotation similar to a direction the wind blows; Sa'akh, which is the conceptual root of the wind, Urk, which describes the north's relation to the Sun, and Vak, which follows a northern star.

Culture: After 500,000 years, it's possible there has been enough social development for stories to be told around the plains fires, so the myth of Apa'al culture that its children carry on their backs is the pursuit of Sa'akh, surely the most complex concept available to this culture. The only tools they bring are crude stone hunting weapons.

Orders: Following further aridization of the region, Apa'al people are noted for a consistency to travel Sa'akh-- which comes to mean purpose as well as north/the source of wind-- keeping near the river in the northeast but staying for the most part on the traversible plains

 

Hi inthesomeday, that's quite fine to take a group that one person has developed and push it in a new direction! Just a few details about the region you're talking about:

Winds generally come from the east and blow westwards, in this bit of the world, so if you're pursuing the source of the wind from the northern tropical forests of the Apalo, you'd just to the coastline, where many Apalo already live.

The area in the far northeast is generally tropical forest, rather than the plains that you're talking about. Should I assume that the origins of the Apa'al are in the Gefo River valley (more central eastern, rather than northeastern)? That's the area between the words 'Apalo' and 'Amalyap' on the map'. That would also be an area where it's actually possible to migrate eastwards, so I'll assume that you're referring to this region!

 

The Myukyap are being pushed on all sides by their more brainy and aggressive neighbors. Instead of growing closer with their fellow men, they begun growing closer to their food: namely, the migrating herds as they move uphill and downhill during the seasons. Instead of rough home villages, they live in series of temporary villages as they follow the migrations. They begin to think in terms of being deliberately in harmony and rhythm with the natural flow of things instead of flowing against it.

They may migrate with the herds and even amongst others, surviving in a different niche than others.

They may be known as the Myakap.

They may name themselves after the primary herds they follow/harvest. (Seven Stags, The Grinning Goat, etc.) Common sounds would be Yatakao or Erisyuma.

EDIT: For the Itar-peoples, they might be called a form of "Maka" instead of "Muku"

 

The Amalyap will continue moving south, following the mountainous terrain to the basin around the sea, and farther south, if possible, to exploit animals who've never seen hominids before. This migration reinforces prior trends of body fat placement for cooler winters, coarser hair on the arms, chest, and face (beard game cray), and a generally stouter build than the longer legged ancestors. Here they'll mingle for a time, breeding like rabbits until they force their own further migration and branching to the coldest reaches of the continent.

 

Terrence888- BTW, I got your note. I'm waiting for the coming update on OrcNES, after which I'll jump in.

Honestly(those who are interested), I'm weighing up between three things right now when deciding what to do. The first is wanting to "win" in terms of the Kioku/Cao being sucessful (and I'm not sure whether to go with that instinct or suppress it). Second is the fact that I rather like the idea of a state based around a rather more rigid idea of Rule of Law than we have. Third is wanting to be fair minded and help develop things to be a good story rather than trying to win.

EDIT: Actually, screw it. I think I have a compromise idea. Since these are subsets, I think as clans "Fumos-Kuku" will do it. "Kuku Fumos" for Fumos aligned with Fumos-Kuku clans, and "Fumos Kuku" for the other way around.

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As the Fumos clan system grows more sophisticated, a subset begin to incorporate Kuku into the clan system. The Fumos become smarter through greater fish intake, while the Kuku become more sociable. As the two do not interbreed, both begin to further specialize in the land and water parts of food collection* respectively. Both Fumos Kuku and Kuku Fumos adapt physically to the changes from having a combined diet from hunting, gathering, and fishing for the benefit of the whole, learning to rely on the combination to fuel larger brains.

*: I'm not sure if it was hunting or hunter-gathering at this point.

 

Right now we're mostly hunter-gatherers. Your folks tend to be fishers, with a bit of gathering.

 

Of course, this works perfectly well. And, with all honesty, any direction works for the wind's direction. My main intention was just general all-in migration, so eastward works too, if that's the direction the wind is coming from. You could essentially replace "north" with "east" for this purpose in my original application post.

 

Name: Apa'nuk

Origins: Offshoot of the Apalo peoples, generally from the communities around the northern jungle river deltas.

Culture: Have taken a liking for the interior of the tropics, preferring to reside in the shade of the soaring trees and perhaps living within them. Rivers are their most preferred mode of travel, with simple rafts or driftwood being thatched together to drift downstream. They usually eat what they can, whether it be with from the rivers or small creatures in the jungle. Another option is various kinds of vegetation like mushrooms and wild crops.

 

Tiryap Orders

Goats for the Goat God, on his Throne of Antlers, or, Tiryap 2: Electric Goat Igloo.

The distinctive cultural productions of Later Tiryap are, as before, shamans wearing goat, deer, and giant condor skulls. Flexible combinations of bone and hide are used to construct their tents, although many tribes dwell in natural cave formations common to the Ypta, the mountainous regions.

Alpha, Beta, and Omega Tiryap are the three out-migrations south of the Ypta. Alpha and Beta Tiryap will migrate east and west respectively, spreading out along the temperate band parallel to and south of the mountains. (Alpha Tiryap are likely to come into contact with the Amalyap and their delicious tender flesh.)

Omega Tiryap will follow the course of the river south of the Ypta, searching for its source as they follow fish migrations. In the dense boreal forests they are likely to enter, the Omega Tiryap will come to know the fear of the great megafauna of the frozen world, so different from the desert their ancestors have long since forgotten.

 

Update 2: 500 000 Years
The Apalo Wanderers, tall, dark of skin and possessed of great endurance, have undergone an explosive expansion, pushing forth the frontiers of the human species. Possessed of little technology beyond simple fire, spears, and simple cutting stone tools, northern Apalo have been able to produce simple rafts of wood and skin. The cultural toolkit of these northern peoples has proven to be most successful in coastal areas. As such, they have not expanded deeply into the dangerous jungles, with the exception of the bold Apa'nuk, who have taken well to hunting and gathering in the steamy interior. In both cases, not only have their simple rafts allowed them to tap into resources unavailable to other peoples, they have also enabled steady expansion, both inland and up the long coast of the great outer sea. From this expansion have come the Abhwal who live across much of the western coastal jungles and river mouths, and the Oebhwaho, who reside even further distant from the homelands of humanity. One particular branch of the Oebhwaho, in an astoundingly unlikely chance, survived an accidental rafting into the open ocean. Washing up on an arid shoreline, these Oebhwaho were able to use their talents as fishermen to survive, and ultimately established themselves along this new coastline, stretching from an ancestrally-familiar jungle in the southeast to a vast, fertile delta in the northwest.

Another group, traveling inland, are the Apa'nuk, who have become quite adept at surviving in these steamy, equatorial jungles.

In the interior, further Apalo expansions have diverged into the Apfal of the far east, while the Apalle people are an intermediate people, bearing influence and ancestry from both the southern Fummes and the Apalo Wanderers.

The Apa'al are yet another offshoot of the expansive Apalo people. Brawnier, though less verbal, than their lightly-built cousins, they have successfully expanded across the temperate regions of the east.

Just to the south, the stout Amalyap continue their expansion. The Mnalyaba have moved into a rocky, coastal region hemmed in by mountainsunlike anything seen in the rest of the world: deep fissures and rift valleys, long fingery lakes and regular earthquakes typify this land. So to does its distinctive fauna, much of which is quite naive about the dangers of human hunters. At the same time, the Amalyafv move steadily southwards, adapting to the colder and colder climates as they go. The furthest of these folk have entered a chilly boreal realm which tests them to the utmost of their physical abilities.

The Swimming People, the Cao, Ku and Coeh, continue to thrive around the Itar Sea and surrounding rivers. To their terrestrial cousins, they seem as alien monsters, with a strange and disconcerting mixture of features: the largely-hairless skin of a newborn, long and large hands and feet, rough-textured fingers for gripping things in water, and an awkward, loping gait. However, as their populatios grow, they are pushed inevitably into conflict with their close neighbours.

The Fumo also remain largely confined to the western coast of the Itar Sea. Competition for hunting and gathering land is fierce, especially with the contraction of the fertile zone in which they live. Population pressures have put their generally tendency towards peace among their own kind under heavy strain: the main release has been emigration, or warfare against the Kuku (Swimmers). This war has steadily contracted the range of their enemies, particularly the Cao people.

However, this period of general warfare was not universal. In many areas particularly the south, Fumos and 'Kuku' have come to cooperate, expanding their clan system to include the Kuku. By 'de-othering' their neighbours, the Fumos are able to gain access to resources that would otherwise be inaccessible to their kind. Conversely, the 'Kuku' gain a much needed ally, and better access to resources rarely found on the water. Over time, these cooperative organizations have proven to be surprisingly stable.

The northern Fumo emigrants, the Fumme, have trekked across the scrublands, ultimately reaching a great river. Their lands are shared, for now, with the Apalle people, and both cultures have significantly influenced one another. Meanwhile, the southern emigrants, the Fumori have come into renewed conflict with the Muku (Myukyap), further pressuring their embattled cousins.

Driven to desperation, and the aggression of their neighbours, some of the Myukyap have become nomadic to a greater degree, dispersing in pursuit of the great ungulate herds that roam the steppes of the far southwest. Here, the Myakap have become skilled mammal hunters.

The Tiryap, after becoming firmly established in the Ypta Mountains, have spawned several divergent cultures in their own wave of migration. The Taryab moved steadily east, coming into conflict with the Amalyafv, in many cases pushing the outsiders out of prime territories. The Temekyap, conversely, moved east. Their territory overlaps with that of their distant Myakap cousins, though the herd-chasers are fairly adept at staying away from the aggressive and territorial 'Bony Men'. Finally, the Tiryat followed the waterways of their old lands south, generation after generation pushing deeper into the cold lands. Here, they find huge, hairy beasts, and terrible, slumbering things, and an endless, cold crystal sea: a primal nightmare at the end of the world.

Spoiler :

 

(EDIT TWO: NVM. I've got a better idea. Please consider these orders cancelled)

In order to coordinate an increasingly complex arrangement, the Fumos-Kuku begin to develop a more complicated language. The layrnx begins to change to allow more control over breathing, as negotiations over relative amounts of meat, fish, and gathered plants become more complex. With access to all three, the brains of the coordinating Fumos and Kuku grow to accommodate this.

(EDIT: This trend is supposed to be about the coordinating Fumos and Kuku. Without coordination, the independent Fumos and Kuku have no need for these expansions. Also, the Fumos-Kuku have access to meat, fish, and plants together so they should have overall the best nutrition through specialization.)

 

One day, the Sun did not shine.

Spoiler :

The clouds rained ash.

Spoiler :

The ash killed the plants, and the plants killed the animals.

Spoiler :

And the animals killed the people.

Spoiler :

And for many turns of the sun, the only difference between day and night, between summer and winter, was that the clouds lay darker or brighter, until men thought the sun a half forgotten dream.

Spoiler :

 

Is the above cataclysm canon? I hope not, it would put quite a damper on things. Either way, the below orders are viable.

Orders: The Apa'al ethnic strain diversifies with its migration patterns; many head further east, and disperse among the Akgan (the Mountain Range east of the isthmus) in search of Sa'akh. Others stay among the increasingly familiar waters of the Akger (the river feeding the same northern area of coast as the Gero). Still others find Sa'akh in the Kogan (the Mountain Range nearest the word Apa'al on the map), with most Apa'al groups living in the Kogan river/ Kogan mountains. The Akger Apa'al are roughly the most civilized of the three main branches of Apa'al culture, and develop a somewhat more advanced linguistic pattern than their cousins, while the Kogan Apa'al are the more territorial, with the hunting grounds in the Kogan Mountains being highly disputed among the rapidly developing kin groups. The Akgan Apa'al remain nomadic, but mostly remain in the montane area where plentiful game are afoot in the temperate atmosphere.
All three Apa'al develop similar cultural characteristics, such as tribalistic territorialism and steadfast stubbornness. However, the Akger Apa'al are the most complex linguistically and some hierarchical systems begin to develop, and the Kogan Apa'al are more politically and technologically advanced (though still a ways away from politics) with distinct tribal hunting patterns being enforced by battles between kin groups armed with spears of stone. Akgan Apa'al have the best herding tradition, which begins with some kin groups closely following groups of herd animals until eventually the following becomes more mutual.
As all three cultures develop different corruptions of Sa'akh (Akger: Skah; Kogan: Sahak; Akgan: Kah) the greatest cultural development continues to concern spiritual purpose.