Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

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Nerre
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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Nerre » Mon Feb 03, 2014 1:57 am

"No, it is very close. Maybe 10 Minutes of walking."
:zzz:

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by GathersIngredients » Tue Feb 04, 2014 2:22 am

Starting points: 69
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Earning: 1 (full paragraph)
Final points: 70

When Muck remained silent for a while, Min folds her arms behind her back and rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet a little. Her mind just as idle as her body is for now, it comes up with all kinds of questions, and she just babbles them all out, one after the other.
"So, what was that source of light, anyways? And what's with this stuff?" Min gestured at all the saplings and bone piles and whatnot around them. "Did you make all that? Where did you get so many bones from, did you carry them over here from the camp? I know Yala has found lots and lots of them in the bears lair and sorted them by size..." Min's voice trails off, and she sniffs the air. "And what's that smell?"


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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Tue Feb 04, 2014 2:44 am

Koael nods and starts heading off to where the oil berries are. He eventually gets there after a few minuitesof walking. He sits down his basket and starts picking them, gathering as many as he can, taking about half an hour and then he heads back to the cave with several oilberries and he dumps them nearby so that they can work with them.

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Nerre » Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:14 am

"Thanks a lot!"
:zzz:

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by nikohl » Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:48 am

(Still feeling crappy guys, sorry - I've got a docs appt in a few minutes, hopefully that will prompt some improvement.)

Yala practically pounces on the berries when Koael returns with them. "Thank you! Do you want to help pound the oil out of them or have you got something else you want to do? I think we can make a start before the funeral begins. Hey Hitto, in my cave there is a big slab of salt, can you please break off a piece about as big as your hand for me? We can make salt water to treat the left over berry mush and make it nice to eat."

Yala goes back to Boro and takes the largest bowl that he has finished making, which she can just about carry. She puts it down near where they had all been sitting and working, then goes back to get a few other bowls to work in. She cuts open an oilberry, puts the stone from the centre on the floor, and drops the flesh of the berry into the small bowl in front of her. Once ten or so are in the bowl, she squashes them with a smooth rock, pulverizing them. Then she drains the released oil off into a medium sized bowl, and puts the pulpy flesh into the big bowl. She shows the others how to do it, if they want to help. When Hitto gets back with the salt, she asks him to crumble it into the big bowl with the berry pulp, and top it up with a little bit of water so that the salt dissolves.

(yala +1/-1 - sorry for the rushed post. Doctors time!)

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:49 am

"I will help out get the oil from the berries and then perhaps help paint later." Koael grabs some of the oil berries and put them in a bowl and smash them up with a rock.

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Nerre » Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:17 am

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"Hey Hitto, in my cave there is a big slab of salt, can you please break off a piece about as big as your hand for me? We can make salt water to treat the left over berry mush and make it nice to eat."
"Yes, I will go grab it. It was the little cave on the right of the entrance, right?" Hitto asks, just to make sure. After he is given a affirming nod, he slowly steps into the cave, thinking it might be a inappropriate for a single male to step into the cave of two single female. On the other hand, they are neither there nor did he do it uninvented. Still he does not like to scan their belongings for the salt. He is glad that he spot it without having to run through anything. He grabs the large slab, which is not light at all, with salt being a mineral. He then pushes it against a little edge at the wall and pushes hard, until it breaks right above the edge. He puts down the larger piece where found it, and brings the other one back into the main cave.
"Can you crumble it into the big bowl with the berry pulp and add a little water so the salt dissolves?" Yala asks him, when he wants to hand it to her.
"Sure." he says and picks up a water skin. Then he puts the salt on a flat stone surface and carefully hits it with his bone club to make it splinter into smaller and flatter pieces, which he can then break with his bare hands. Whenever he throws in several crumbs, he also adds some water.
"Is it okay like this?"
:zzz:

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by nikohl » Sun Feb 09, 2014 11:46 am

"Yes, that's fine - I don't know why the salty water makes the oilberries taste good, but it does. Eventually, anyway. After a day or two in the water, they are not so bitter - they are still quite strong in taste though. The children don't really like them." Yala carries on squeezing the oil out of the berries and placing the pulp into the bowl that Hitto has filled with briny water.

[GM: Does anyone mind if we fast forward to the funeral? See OOC for further discussion and to let me know your input. I think we need a bump along to avoid us getting stuck doing "nothing much" all day. I need to know at least most of you are OK with that though.]

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by GathersIngredients » Mon Feb 10, 2014 10:33 am

[reserved!] as per the lovely GM's suggestion. :thumbsup:

Starting points: 70
Spending:15 (10 points worth of fish, 3 points to learn basic melee from Muck's instructions/training session, 2 points for finding some pretty colored rocks)
Earning: 0 ()
Final points: 55

[I will fill in the actual post later, when it's done, but I wanted to put the points in here, so I don't have to re-calculate everything from this point forth.]
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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by nikohl » Tue Feb 11, 2014 2:41 pm

As the cleaning crew return from the newly-chosen burial cave, and begin to move around the cave helping other people or tidying up, the group at the forest return too. Muck, Min, Vera and [tribsewoman] arrive back at the cave with spears and sticks loaded with large fish, the smallest are each an arm's length and the largest, one carried by Muck, is fully a double arm-span, long and thin. The majority of them appear to be carp-like bottom feeders, with large whiskery feelers draping down from their open mouths, and multiple fins over mottled brown backs. A few of the fish are brighter and larger, with shiny scales and fat bellies. Vera's spear has a long and slippery looking eel skewered on it's tip, and Min has a crab with huge claws. They appear to have had a great morning at the river, and they place their bounty down on grass mats in the cooler back caves. They do not have time to begin to gut and clean the fish before Elto moves to the middle of the caves and calls for attention. Gereth returns at around this time, having been walking nearby.

"It is time, everyone, for us to accompany Ril to her final rest. Someone awaken Fengo from his slumber. Vera, please bring the purple grease-paint that I made, I believe Hitto has it. We will need it for the ritual. The rest of you, please follow me in the customary single-file procession. I will carry Ril to the cave, where Gereth and Fengo as the eldest among us will assist me in placing her inside. We will complete our prayers to the Sun and Moon to watch for her, and mark her location with the paint. After that, there is time for us each to honour her as we see fit. Then, before the sun sets, we will return to the caves and stage a feast in her name!"

Elto straps his spear to his back, sheathes the tribe's ancestral knife at his side, and crouches down to pick up Ril's body. He carries her in his arms and walks steadily out towards the burial cave. Vera follows directly behind him, having collected the shell full of paint from Hitto.

When the procession arrives at the cave a few minutes later, Elto crouches down to get through the gap, and backs up so that Gereth and Fengo can also get inside. As he cannot maneuver her well by himself, he supports her while the pair of other men move her limbs and lower her into a flat position at the far side of the cave. The three men then exit the cave.

Elto sits in front of the cavemouth and leads the tribe in a short prayer - Vera sits behind him and closes her eyes, tilting her head up to the sky and listening to him speak. "Sun-Father, Ril's time has ended in your light. Mother moon, she lives with you in eternal night. Ril joins our ancestors in the sky today. May she ever watch over us as they watched over her. We look up for her with our eyes and our hearts, and keep this earth-bound place as a reminder of her life."

After the prayer, Elto takes the paint he made and applies a dot to his own forehead and then a dot to the stone entranceway to the cave. Vera does the same, then leaves the shell full of paint by the entrance for everyone else to do the same: this is a traditional way to represent memory of the dead, and is often repeated at other times of remembrance or when the grave is visited.

--

[You all have time to bring whatever you want to bring with you to the funeral, so please assume you have whatever belongings you wanted with you. You can now do whatever you want to do - eg cave paintings, talk about Ril or other lost tribesfolk, etc etc. There will be a proper points update etc after this, when the feast begins.]

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Arch Lich Burns » Tue Feb 11, 2014 3:56 pm

Koael gets some of the paint and put it on his head and the wall and goes to where Ril lies.

"You will live on in our hearts and be remembered for as long as we live." Koael grabs some of the paint and pushes the paint across the wall with a figure that appears to be a man and the moon over him. "Light who gave us life, please guide Ril's soul to our ansestors so that he can show us the way."

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Nerre » Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:04 am

+- 0 (length of post, painting)

Hitto took a short rope with him and placed it beside the cave for later.
After the tribe is done outside with painting dots on the wall and marking themselves, Hitto takes the shell for a moment and follows Koael inside. There he gently grabs Ril's hand and puts paint on it, then he presses it at the wall. He repeats it with her other hand. After doing it without a word, he says to her. "We talked about it, but they forgot. But I could not stand there and be idle about it. There has to be a mark of you left in this world, even after your journey with us has ended. Dream well, little Ril. May you continue your journey with our ancestors now."
Hitto paints a mark on his forehead while finally saying "Until we see again!"
Then he crouches out of the cave and puts the paint down, just in case there is still somebody left to leave his mark. Hitto uses the paint which is still on his fingers to paint a little circle over the entrance. A circle for life and death following on each other seems to be a fitting mark for a grave, he thinks.
After that, he takes his rope and walks to the oil berry tree and collects some dead wood for the fire. He had to do something to get his thoughts of the sad event. Yes, they would dine soon, but this would distract him far less than working. Dining only kept your mouth and hands busy, not your mind.
:zzz:

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by GathersIngredients » Fri Feb 14, 2014 5:35 am

Starting points: 55
Spending:0
Earning: 1 (full paragraph)
Final points: 56

Min ensures everyone in the tribe makes it to the funeral on time. (Search for Yarl, if he's still missing, respectfully wake Fengo and Gereth and tell them it's time.) She takes a fish with her - it's not the largest one by far or seems special in any way, but still, Min picked it out with great care - and walks next to Boe making sure he can keep up with the others on the way to the burial place, or at least lend him as much help as she can, if he needs aid because of his hurt leg.

At the funeral cave, Min mimics what Elto and Vera have done, applying a dot of paint to her forehead, and one to the cave wall. Then she enters the cave and kneels down beside Ril's remains. She holds out the fish over the body of her late tribe member, and starts to talk softly.

"Ril, I have come to say good bye to you and to wish you safe travels, wherever you go from here. I do so with a heavy heart, because you were so young and could have seen and done so much more in this world. But it is not up to us to decide when it is time to move on. All we can do is honor you and remember you and keep you in our hearts." Min sniffles a bit and feels tears well up in her eyes.

"I didn't know you as well as I would have liked, but I recall a wonderful sunny summer day, when you and I went to the pond by the river - not this river of course, but the river back home - to do some laundry. When we were done with the work, leaving us all sweaty, you couldn't resist to take a swim in the cool, beckoning waters and in your enthusiasm, coaxed me into coming with you. You moved so gracefully and frolicked through the waters with such joy on your face, while I struggled slightly to keep afloat in the unknown element, that I very much got the impression that you belonged in there, much more than you did on land. I will always remember you that way: as daughter of the waves." Min's voice falters and she has to clear her throat in order to continue.

"I know you don't have need for sustenance any more, and yet I have brought you this fish. It's a very special fish, we only caught it this morning. It was very clever and very cunning and fought for his life like no other today, and only with there being four of us, and just one of him, we were able to overwhelm it, to beat it, to overcome his immense will to live. So I thought that maybe his spirit could keep yours company in the great beyond, that's why I brought him here. Because he belongs into the water just as much as you do, and he was so full of life and joy, just as you were, so I thought he'd make a good companion for you." Min lowers the fish gently, to lay beside Ril's body.

"I also found this rock near the river this morning, and I brought it here, to gift it to you." Min says, and places a bright blue stone* onto Ril's chest, closing Ril's hand over it. "It's as blue and shiny as the water is. I thought that you would like it, but also I thought that some day in the far future, when this tomb is filled with generations of tribe members, with this rock in your hand, visitors will still have a clue who lies here and what they liked.

Farewell, Ril. Watch over us, if you can." Min
gives Ril's hand a last squeeze and her remains one last, respectful nod, and stands. Slowly, she leaves the cave again, a few tears silently running down her face.


*[probably azurite]

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Jacon » Fri Feb 14, 2014 9:12 am

Gereth had managed to nap a little in between his walks. Though no rested as well as he'd like he felt well enough to join Elto and Fengo. He added a dot to his forehead and than waited nervously as people said their goodbyes. When their was finally a break for a moment he stepped to the body.
" Girl I did not know you. Truth is I do not know enough about my own people. I spent to many years walking and not enough settling....But I should have made the effort. I know my place in this tribe now as an elder and a teacher and not just another warrior. I should have taught that curiosity in unknown lands is dangerous to you and stopped from leaving. I should have been instructing instead of by myself watching our tribe from a distance. On your deathbed I swear to try and do better..."
He pauses and feels tired. Sleep still called to him and the funeral was quickly becoming more than he aged body could handle.
" I watched your spirit though and I know that you are safe. I can take solace in that...Goodbye Ril."
With that he'll stand by tiredly as other continue to come.

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Aegis J Hyena » Sun Feb 16, 2014 7:57 am

(I'll make my post later today; I'd almost forgotten this existed... heh. :ktongue: )
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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Aegis J Hyena » Sun Feb 16, 2014 6:18 pm

Current points: 38
Spending: 0
Regained: 1 (post longer than a paragraph)
New Total: 39

Fengo marks himself with the grease paint, as is tradition. "Father Sun, Mother Moon, another one of us comes to your care now; she was a virtuous woman, please take good care of her." He still looks rather exhausted, like he didn't get a good sleep even though he was out for nearly the entire day. Of course, that just means his repose was... eventful...

"We've lost Ril, but she's stronger here now." He taps his heart. "She won't soon be forgotten." He marks the inside of the cave with the greasepaint, drawing glyphs and runes meant to both shield and guide. "To strengthen our bonds now that her life line has been cut, I want everyone to draw one line on the wall with the paint, in whatever direction. The finished drawing, no matter how strange it may look, will represent our happy memories of Ril together as a tribe and also represent our power in safely guarding her and seeing her to the Other Side." He leaves a small chipped stone by Ril's body; obviously it was the beginning of a small carving but he'd fallen asleep after his all-nighter out in the wilderness. Still, it was the effort that mattered.

He tried to shake the cobwebs from his head; soon it would be time to feast, and he was hungry enough that he could probably out-eat some of the bigger warriors. He'd spent all day in his head designing a speech and he needed some energy to deliver it.
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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by nikohl » Tue Feb 18, 2014 10:04 am

[GM NPC movement]

The adult tribe members and the children are all sombre and quiet after Elto's prayer and Fengo's instruction; a few elect not to go inside the cave for long, instead just making the customary dots with the paint, hastily swiping a line for Fengo's drawing, and retreating outside. They gather together and stand around the large stones, quietly talking to each other about the occasion, discussing Ril's life and the circumstances of her death. They comment on the good fortune of finding the standing stones in such a nearby location, and the danger of the urchins at the waterfall, and the threat of the cats in the forest. Some of those villagers who do go inside the tomb leave small tokens with Ril, especially the children, and eventually the floor around her body features a small assortment of items that the villagers deemed interesting or beautiful, piled around the fish from Min. They range from a conical shell, to a small hook shaped out of damp clay, to a talisman crudely fashioned from little bones tied together with grass. One child has brought her a particularly large leaf-skeleton, which he has carefully placed on a flat rock to avoid it being stepped on. The people have very little in the way of belongings, but it is clear that several of them want to leave something of themselves here with Ril.

[Yala]

Yala was one of the last to go up to the cave after Ril's body had been interred. She had hung back after Elto's prayer, and waited until most of the gathered tribesfolk had been up to pay their respects. She took some of the last remaining purple paint and dotted her head, then made her mark on the entranceway and went inside. She sat and looked at the painting that Fengo had directed, still incomplete but featuring many different lines now. Squinting at it, she decided it looked almost like a tree, with a thick line that she suspected Elto himself had drawn, almost completely vertical near the centre. She chose to add her own line underneath the others, horizontal, as if it were the earth.

She couldn't think of much to say to Ril herself, and felt half embarrassed, half guilty at the fact. She turned to face Ril and sat in silence for several moments, then shrugged and nodded. "Bye, Ril. Save me a seat, okay? I'll see you soon enough." With that, she patted the older girl's hand and stood to exit the cave, squeezing out of the gap between the rocks and breathing in welcome fresh air. It was already hot and stuffy in the burial cave, and the bright afternoon sun warmed the rocks, making it quite uncomfortable inside. Soon, when they had walled up the entrance and left, the heat would speed along the return of Ril's body to the earth, and smallest of the local wildlife would re-enter the cave and begin their work - even though the tribe had done their best to seal the gaps in the rocks, nature always found a way. That was right and good, and Yala knew that, but she still felt a shudder of disgust at the thought of the decay. Blushing hot and suddenly angry, she turned and ran back towards the home cave.

(Yala +1)

(OOC: Stay as long as you like at the burial cave; none of the NPCs have turned for home yet, but will start doing so pretty soon. I'll do an update with the cooking of the fishes and the beginning of the feast and give out points, once it looks like everyone's done what they want to do at the cave.)

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by Nerre » Tue Feb 18, 2014 10:11 am

"Elto, should we seal the entrance already, or wait a bit longer?" Hitto asks. There was a lot of dots and lines and it seemed most have already been in there, but he was not sure.

If the answer is no, he goes to the oilberry tree and collects some more from the ground.
If the answer is yes, he will ask for help to move the large rock in front of the hole and then close the gaps with smaller stones.
:zzz:

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by GathersIngredients » Wed Feb 19, 2014 4:58 am

Starting points: 56
Spending:0
Earning: 1 (full paragraph)
Final points: 57

Min, who already has been outside the cave, when Yala entered, and listened with great interest to the other tribe members discussing the cause of Ril's death - the urchin - sees her exit the tomb again and run off. Worried for her, having been in a similar situation the evening before and remembering the Chief's order that for safety people shouldn't be on their own, Min clenches her jaw, fastens her grip on her pointy stick and starts to run after her.
Min is mindful make herself noticed, get Yala's attention so she wouldn't startle her, but also keep some distance so Yala can decide herself if she wants Min to come closer or not, giving the younger girl the space she needs, but also someone to watch over her.
Vigilantly, Min keeps on scanning the surroundings for possible threats, ready to deal with any danger that might arise, or at least ensure that Yala makes it back to the camp safely.


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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by nikohl » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:37 pm

If Yala sees or senses Min behind her as she runs, she does not acknowledge it. She just keeps running until she reaches the home cave a few minutes later. Skidding to a halt at the entrance, she marches into the cave she shares with Min and snatches up her fur cape, which she'd left behind as the day was so hot, and the bag containing the hideworking materials that previously belonged to Irma. She sits down with her back against the wall and begins to cut into the cape with a sharpened shard of flint, measuring with her hands every now and again. She scowls down at the material in her hands as she works, not acknowledging anything else in her surroundings at all yet.

(Yala +1)

[GM NPC movement]

Back at the burial site, Elto checks to make sure no-one else wishes to go inside to pay their respects, then nods to Hitto. "Yes... I think we are done here. Seal around entrance as tightly as possible, but with as few rocks as you can. I hope we will have no need to re-enter here any time soon, but eventually we will want to open the entrance, and a few large rocks are easier to work with than a mound of smaller ones." Elto will assist with the closing up of the tomb by helping to move the large main rock, but will then move aside and let other people handle the smaller rocks to fully seal up the entrance. He does not leave yet, instead sitting back down in silent contemplation while others talk, pray or work on sealing the crypt.

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by GathersIngredients » Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:05 pm

Starting points: 57
Spending:3 (finding a new use for previously discarded not-mend-able grass mats)
Earning: 1 (full paragraph)
Final points: 55

Min is rather relieved that nothing bad happened on the way back to the caves. She ponders for a few minutes whether she should approach Yala, or just leave her alone, and finally goes to sit by the fire pit without really reaching a decision.
Unable to think of something else to do, Min picks up the grass mats from the previous meal that litter the place where everyone ate, sorting them in two piles: the better ones to be reused another time, the more deranged ones to be mended, if possible, or to be discarded.

Min notices how they are all covered in fat from the meat that was within, dripped out of the pores during the cooking process and re-solidified somewhat into a languid, semi-fluid goo sticking to the surface of the grass mats long after the eating was done. She knows that fat can fuel a fire, but also, that material that already has been exposed to flames usually doesn't ignite. Experimentally, she shoves one of the more damaged mats into the fire, fatty side up, to see if it would burn even though the outside of the grass mat was already singed.
The fat catches fire quick enough, and it would probably have burned for a while, but the grass mat underneath just crumbles into bits and the fat, liquid from the heat again, just runs away into the earth.

Min gives off a disgruntled noise at this result and, leaning her chin onto her palm, pouts a little. Then she remembers how torches are made, and grabs a fresh branch from the firewood pile and wraps the used grass mat around it rather tight, careful to keep most of the fat on the inside of it. She cuts a small notch into the wood to fixate the end of the mat therein to keep it from unwrapping and then tries to light the product of her efforts.
Again, the fat lights up quickly and this time most of it stays between the folds of the grass mat, burning slowly with a steady flame, occasionally sputtering a bit.

Happy with her findings, Min now enters the cave she shares with Yala, taking her 'torch' with her.
"Hey, Yala." Min says in a very soft voice from the entrance of the cave, as not to startle her room mate. "I just wanted to check if you were okay. Or if you could maybe use some light?" Min holds up her new creation. "I know we get a bit of day light in during these hours, but maybe not enough to work on something delicate?" Min suggests, and tries to see what Yala has been up to.

[@ GM: If 3 points isn't enough for this find, please tell me so!]

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by nikohl » Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:46 am

(3's ok, the tribe has made torches so it's an improvement/recycling effort rather than a whole new invention :))

Yala looks up at Min as the older girl enters their cave, startled. She has cut her cape into as many large ovals as she could make, and many smaller ones from the off cuts. Half-dry tears shine on her face in the light from Min's torch, which she smears away with the back of her hand and gets back to work, pushing a sharp pointed rock through the edges of the tanned fur ovals at regular intervals. "Shoes. I'm making shoes. Fengo said an urchin got into her foot and poisoned her. She didn't have any shoes. I should make more." The young girl had not shown any emotion at the burial cave until she ran, but she now seems to be in a state of shock, working on the fur on autopilot.

(+1/-1)

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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by GathersIngredients » Thu Feb 20, 2014 5:16 am

Starting points: 55
Spending:0
Earning: 1 (full paragraph)
Final points: 56

"Oh, sweetie, that's so thoughtful and practical of you!" Min exclaims, touched by how much Yala cares for her remaining tribe mates and wants to keep them from suffering the same fate, but also a little shocked by the state of mind Yala seems to be in. Then again, she, Min has been in a very similar situation when Elto had declared Ril's death, and she still remembers it well.

"But you really shouldn't ruin your clothes for this, not when we have more hides already tanning, that we could use for shoe making. You have little enough as it is, and the other tribe members have all been warned about the urchins by now, they won't be hopping into that pool in a hurry." Min tries to calm Yala down a little with her words, leans the torch against some bigger rocks on the cave floor, so nothing flammable is near it and sits down next to the younger girl, laying one arm around Yala in an attempt to comfort her.


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nikohl
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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by nikohl » Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:19 am

Yala promptly bursts into tears as Min puts her arm around her, dropping her hole-making rock and the fur she was holding and hugging Min tightly. Yala was normally quite stoic - she was occasionally cheerful and excited, often grumpy or angry, but rarely sad - indeed, she had borne the death of her father with a grave sort of acceptance, and had remained practical and upbeat during the exodus from their old home. But now it seemed the floodgates had been opened, and Yala's mature and calm facade had fallen, revealing the upset child behind it. "It's not fair, Min! We made it away and we're supposed to be okay now and we're not okay at all! I hate Rongarr! I hate this place! I want to go back to how it was before!"

(Yala +1.)

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GathersIngredients
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Re: Cavemen: Survival of the Fittest

Post by GathersIngredients » Thu Feb 20, 2014 4:26 pm

Starting points: 56
Spending:0
Earning: 1 (full paragraph)
Final points: 57

Not quite sure what to say, Min simply pulls Yala closer into her embrace and gently strokes her hand over the younger girl's hair in a soothing gesture.
"Oh Yala, honey, I know it's not fair. And I would love to go back to the way things were before, too, but that's just not possible. Even if we could return to the place we were living at before, if we could find our way back, our homes would still be destroyed and all the lives that were lost since Rognarr and his horde found us would not be restored."


Desperately, Min racks her brain for something useful to say, something consoling, something that would give Yala some hope. Once more she wishes Narma was here, the elder woman would know just what to say without fail.

"You're right about one thing. We've made it here, and we're supposed to be okay now. At least none of our pursuers will give us any more trouble in this secluded valley, and that's gotta count for something, right?" Min gives a little pause here, but doesn't really expect an answer from Yala, if she doesn't feel like speaking.

"It's just that this place is new to us, and so are any dangers it harbors. Like the urchins, or the cats. But we still got each other to watch over one another, to work together and overcome any difficulties. We didn't find her in time to help Ril, but we were able to help Boe. He's injured, yes, but he will heal in time. It's important that we care for one another, just like you started out to do, with the shoes. You wanted to keep anyone from getting poisoned by one of those urchins, didn't you?" Again, Min pauses, but doesn't insist on a reply.

"And precisely like that, everyone in this tribe strives to keep everyone else safe. That's what really matters. That we keep on going. Keep on trying. Keep on watching out for one another. Especially in the first few days, maybe weeks in these unknown surroundings." Min heaves a little sigh, not entirely sure where she's going with this, making it up as she goes.

"Sure, it will take us a while to get settled in here, to become familiar with our new surroundings and to learn about anything that could harm us. But once we're there, life will be very similar to back, how it was before. Just have a little patience, okay?" Min reaches out her hand and very softly brushes one of the tears on Yala's face away with her fingers.

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