A Divine Theater

[Wrahn]

As Coreagen studies the genealogy of the Sharalik, his conclusion is the ability to channel spirits is probably genetic, but is a recessive gene, so that it does not show up in everyone. I would wish all of the Sharalik to be able to experience the world like the circle does. It saddens me to that they think that I have favorites among them. Yet the Sharalik will need as many of them that can channel spirits as possible. For now, since they have no official leadership, it may be for the best.

Oeln can feel Coreagen hope fading once it is clear that the Treant is aware of them and is making no effort to communicate. “If they wish to be left alone, we will honor that sentiment. But, I am not sure that we are actually succeeding in communicating with him. So I have one last thing to try. It may be a little dangerous, now is the time to speak if you have any reservations.” Coreagen says to Oeln. Assuming Oeln will trust Coreagen. He steps up to the Treeherder and touches him. He will send feelings of peace, friendship and curiosity. He will step back and wait for a response.

He will begin teaching the scouts how to move through the forest like ghosts. How to walk without making noise, where to move to avoid being seen. How to approach from upwind, how to camouflage them from sight and scent. He will teach them how to set snares to capture the small animals.

Sama and the deep scouts he will also teach how to move like ghost through the darkness. How to camoflage themselves as stone. How to fool things the sense through vibrations through the earth with misdirection and travelling through the water. He teaches both scouts how to communicate with handspeak. A simple language only using sign language.

One day he brings the scouts together, where Abrin, one of the Sharalik who is known for having clever hands. There he has crafted several branches from trees into bows almost as tall as a man. Several arrows with stone heads have also been crafted.

Coreagen radiates pride in what Abrin has crafted, “Abrin has crafted these for us. His ingenuity will permit us to hunt larger game. I want you all to become proficient with them and help Abrin refine the bows to better suit you all. Sama and the deep scout will need smaller bows, of course.” Over the course of several years they refine the bows to be a deadly instrument.

He will instruct those fishing, providing the main food for the tribe until such a time the forest can completely sustain them, to start setting aside food for the change in seasons ahead. He will use one of the rooms cut previously and show the Circle how to coax water into forming ice and store the fish in there.

Over time, he will begin to watch the Giant Spiders. He will try and determine if they are self aware and what kind of creature they are.

As the weather slowly changes, getting colder, and Coreagen feels there is enough food for the coming winter. He will call the tribe together, inhabiting Aesa, as he he does on most occasions of tribal gatherings, “We have begun to walk a long path my children. We have set our foot down a road that even your children’s children will see the end of. It will be a hard road, a road with much work and much fear. We are only at the beginning. But what a glorious beginning. I could not be prouder of you my children and tonight, tonight we celebrate!”

Coreagen leaves Aesa and begins to spread his consciousness among the Sharalik. Touching all of their spirits, letting them feel his love and pride for each and every one of them. Together as one they begin to sing the song of the Sharalik and the forest echoes their harmony.

 

[WizWrm]

Irohim:
The thing continues to gush towards the gnomes, ignoring your threats. You are forced to magically shield the three explorers, and still the beast lashes out with flowing tentacles. Finally, you hurl a burning, incandescent piece of yourself at the creature. It is consumed by the light, and at the last moment you feel a sort of ecstatic rapture before it is abruptly cut off. Nothing is left on the shore where the creature once was. As you shed tears for it, an odd sense of empowerment comes from it. You feel as though you have grown stronger by the protoplasmic creature's death, and (presumably) this causes you to weep only more, because of the guilt you feel over profiting from its death.

Attar:
Lahrk responds, "I wish to be reborn, for there can truly be nothing greater than a chance to live another full life, one of bravery and honor. In this, I shall see my people progress and improve their lot, though I may not fully understand how far they have come. I ask one boon of you, however: when I die once again to return to your hallowed realm, that my memories of all my lives be restored to me, so I may appreciate my greatest glories and remain true to the lessons in my most humble moments."

The orc you inspire ponders for a while, then gathers together several kinds of berries, which he crushes, and then takes a stick and uses it to paint crude drawings. When he shows some of the other Jasad, they are pleased at his new idea, and Yalakar sees another use for it beyond simple enjoyment. Using the berry-ink and whittled sticks, they are able to keep better records of their herds, and so are quickly aware of any that are lost. A few other orcs take up the art of drawing for their own enjoyment, and it seems to you as if a tiny bit of the ceaseless worries that plague the tribe are alleviated.

The hunter-explorers who seek better materials for their weapons discover a small vein of hard metals running through softer rock. However, they do not know how to separate it from the rock, or how to shape into their weapons.

They do, however, achieve some success in capturing horses, trapping them in the same way they trapped the oxen. The horses are much faster than the oxen, of course, and so they only catch three before the herds learn to flee at the sight of orcish spears. When one hunter is kicked in the head and killed, the others decide to leave the horses alone until they have some better method of trapping the horses.

Eilil:
The ferrets are easy to capture and train to kill vermin, since that is what they naturally wish to do.

If you want, you could take the shape of an adult bird and mimic its behaviors, which might be easier than trying to keep a full-grown hawk from escaping, and still get it to train its young.

Investigating the magic-users' families, you discover that although several have living parents, none can use magic. However, three of the magic-users have children, and all of those seem to show a growing aptitude for magic, though none can manage enough yet to be truly placed in the ranks of the magic-users.

You find that you are easily able to heal wounds without tiring yourself. You are not able to improve Jora's individual magical abilities (that is, when she is trying to do something and you are focusing on helping her do it better, rather than doing it along with her) to any significant degree, but when all three of you focus on a single task, it becomes slightly easier and faster. You also find that magic is easier to do when she is praying or otherwise expressing her respect and devotion for you. You can 'possess,' her and still have the full range (as far as you know, so far, anyway) of your abilities, though your senses are limited to hers, with the exception that you are still able to feel emotions. However, it is difficult to hear Alade calling you when he is far away and you are possessing Jora. Alade is unable to possess her, but he can speak and she can hear him (it is a ghostly voice coming out of the air) with a lot of effort. Once, Alade is even able to cast magic into the physical world, but it is very difficult and tiring for him to do so. You discover that by lending him some of your 'energy,' (for lack of a better term), you can let him manifest as a ghostly, incorporeal spirit for a short period of time. He is then able to do anything as easily as he could in life that doesn't involve actual physical contact with anything. This tires you, however, and you cannot maintain it very long.

Your 'messiah,' project is something that you find beyond your current means - you cannot split your attention enough between all the things that require focus upon to imbue a child with such abilities as well as part of your mind.

Breeding the animals goes well, and within a few more years, you have a full stable of horses (over a dozen), enough ferrets that little (if any) food is lost to scavengers, a few very protective wolves, and hawks (dependent on how you train them).

Asveh:
The halflings take your speech to heart. You assuage the worries of the elderly, and the tribe seems united under the desire to improve themselves. Within time, the clay wall is completed, though it seems as if a new expansion must be added every week to accomodate the growing number of families. Over the next twenty years, the population doubles in size, to nearly 150 halflings, though most are children at this point. [For reference, the fastest RL human population explosions went at about one doubling of the population per quarter-century.] You find yourself growing much stronger as their numbers increase.

The cleverest halfling minds set about work to follow your dictates. The first thing they find that is necessary is some way to inscribe their knowledge upon a more permanent surface than memory, so it is not lost and can be transferred easily. This results in a simple hieroglyphic language.

The next advance that comes is the wheel, which permits the halfings to carry grain and building supplies about the town quickly and easily, reducing the need for manual labor. An almost communistic society develops, with a few of the wisest and most popular halflings instructing the rest on where next to build or plant. All work for the good of their people.

However, with the heightened population, there grows increasing tension between families that always have had a mild rivalry since the nomadic days. The rate of duels increase, and at least a dozen die over various arguments, from food to mates to the expansion of the wall. Additionally, an eight-member halfling scouting party was butchered by wolves when they explored too far - nearly forty miles - beyond the protective town. [You need to decide what you want to do with their spirits.] You are aware that the wolves have expanded in number too; there are at least sixty that seem to be directly under the authority of the seven lycanthropes.

Coreagen:
The treant shifts its massive feet when you reach out to it. Iin a deep, gravelly voice, it croaks "Great effort...contact us....cease."

The scouts pick up your techniques regarding stealth speedily, and even the sign language comes with time. None show any special ability to manipulate the spirits, though.

Abrin and several others set to work crafting bows and teaching the Sharalik in their use. They manage to bring down the swift deer, and once five bow-armed Sharalik together take down a brown bear that threatened the Fountain Home. The circle is able to preserve unneeded meat without too much effort.

You discover that there are several types of spiders - most seem to be like their smaller brethren in all but size, but a few have a pair of vicious, bladed legs and unusually virulent poison, and even fewer show the ability to disappear and reappear a short distance away, which aids them greatly in hunting deer or bears. You can't tell whether they are self aware; there are certainly much more complex emotions coming from them than from other animals, but nothing that resembles the clear (to you, at least) thought patterns you feel from the Sharalik.

Your effort to unify the tribe spiritually has an added effect: you feel stronger and renewed.

 

[Serpenteye]

Asveh is most pleased by the independent progress of his people and continues to encourage new ideas and solutions. Every night he comes to those of the wisest and most intelligent minds of the tribe where he has sensed a talent for magic. He trains them intensely in their dreams and when they are awake, if they are not unwilling, concentrating on nature-magics and healing.

The internal feuding angers him greatly, and he makes it perfectly clear that infighting will not be tolerated. He always tries to intervene before it can come to bloodshed and he always punishes the guilty (by rebuking them severely and, if their crimes are great, painfully). Even so he starts to feel the need for a more proactive approach to solving the problem.

The unclear social structure seems to be the primary reason for the troubles. The families are too independent and clannish, their claim to the peoples' loyalties is too great and it comes at the expense of the tribe. He gathers the heads of the families and explains his worries; An alternative system must be formulated and their input and cooperation is required. A set of unbreakable laws would have to be formulated by a temporary council of the elders and the deity that would form a constitution, a frame-work for how the nation must be run.

After discussing the issue they arrive at a solution. (ooc: ?)

The First Law and Constitution of the nation.
§1-All authority is derived from Asveh.
§2-The nation shall have a single leader, beneath Asveh.
§3-The leader shall be appointed for life by Asveh, and can only be deposed by Asveh.
§4-The first priority of the leader shall always be the strength of the nation and the welfare of the people.
§5-The leader has the power to write laws, collect taxes, render judgement and appoint government officials.
§6-The leader shall execute the authority of their office with due care and moderation.
§7-A council of five wise elders elected by the people shall act as advisors to the leader and assist him selfessly.
§8-All people have the right to their own life and property. That right can be forfeited by the violation of a criminal law in the first case, and by the violation of a civil or a criminal law in the second case.
§9-The Constitution can only be repealed or amended with the direct approval of Asveh.

The constitution is written and word goes out to the people about the imminent appointment of the Leader and the election of the Advisory Council. Everyone wishing to run for office must announce themselves. Those who wish to be examined for suitability for leadership need only send a prayer to Asveh. The appointment and election will be in one month.

-

The death of the scouting party infuriates him and he concludes that the lycantropic packs must be dealt with in force. He begins his preparations by training his adepts in animating plants to entangle opponents and spells to put enemies to sleep. Those who master those magics are assembled in a unit, named The Blessed Ones. Their own magical abilities are enhanced by Asveh in exchange for a daily regimen of prayer.
Another unit is assembled from the hunters in the tribe. They are put trough rigorous physical and mental training and are honoured with increased rations. This force is named The Wolf Guard, after their avowed enemies.
Asveh announces the need for better weapons. The simple clubs and thrown rocks are too clumsy and weak for fighting such dangerous beasts as wolves. He demonstrates the properties of flint and bows.

The Halflings who were killed by the wolves are honoured in an official ceremony. Asveh holds a speach and uses his rhetorical and supernatural abilities to unite the tribe in the lust for vengeance. At the high-point of the speach he conjures the souls of the dead from beyond the veil and gives them one day to say goodbye to their loved ones. Then, if they wish it they will depart for the afterlife. He'll fashion a new home for them, a small paradise for them to spend eternity. Then he will explain to the people that all who live their lives in honour and reverance will be rewarded after they die. Those who are wicked will suffer until they too are ready to ascend. Those who are truly lost shall know pain everlasting.
Those of the eight dead who wish it may remain in spirit-form as long as they want, and continue to live among the people until they are ready to depart. They will be made honorary members of the Wolf Guard to serve as their scouts and protectors.

Separate ceremonies are kept for those killed by the feuding and those who have died from other causes. Everyone is awarded some honour and genuine grief but those who died as criminals are also rebuked. These dead are also given leave to return to say farewell to their loved ones, but then they will depart for the afterlife. Those who vow to serve Asveh with all their souls will be allowed to return to the world permanently in spirit-form. They will form the Order of the Reborn.

--
ooc: Am I being a bit anachronistic here, with the constitution and all?

 

[Kavyk]

Eilil will take the form of a hawk to help train the nestlings[thanks, good idea]. He will help train them in to hunt on command with the Radu. If he can get the first generation trained properly, the next ones should be able to learn by example of the first.

While his people are no longer 'hunter gatherers', Eilil's vision of the nomadic part of the tribe does include certain aspects of that culture which will be necessary to keep the Radu from becoming weak. Eilil will help them develop hunting tactics from horseback, including the use of a bow and arrow, getting the assistance of the wolves and hawks to separate large animals from the rest of the herds, and always bringing a magic-user along to help heal any who are injured. He wants them to be as efficient as possible, but never wasteful, so that they will also have time for other pursuits like writing and music making.

Eilil also composes the first song of his people, which he gives to Jora to teach the others when she returns to the encampment. Until now, there has been humming and wordless melodies, perhaps a few simple songs, but they intrigued Eilil and so he created a song about his first visit among the Radu. He instructs them to sing it at the next feast in his honor, and then he will listen and instruct different groups to be higher or lower pitched, since even Eilil himself hasn't encountered this before either.

Noticing how the stone and bone arrow tips do not always pierce as well as the hunters need, he also tells the Radu to search for any other substances which might make better arrow heads and spear heads.

 

[Wrahn]

Coreagen is disappointed at the Treants decision, but honors it and will leave.
---

When the scouts take down a deer, Coreagen will call a feast. The deer is prepared and as the tribe gathers to eat, Coreagen/Aesa speaks, “Before we partake in this feast, let us all thank the spirit of the deer, that it has given it’s life so the Sharalik may eat.” Aesa will sing a short sweet song of thanks, which begins a new tradition of thanking the spirits of the animals slain for the bounty of the Sharalik, by a short song before a meal.
---

As winter comes to the forest, Coreagen has the circle begin to dig the channel of the river deeper and wider, preparing for the spring flooding. He does not push them hard, a little each day, they have all winter to prepare for it. He hopes that the constant use of their power and the practice of working together will make them strong enough in the spring to both continue work on the Fountainhome and to move beyond the simple elemental spirit to the manipulation of plant spirits.

They had not had time to gather enough pelts to make everyone winter clothing, so most of the tribes time is spent in the Fountainhome, around the fire, fishing lightly to supplement their stores. In these quiet days, Coreagen will guide them in the arts. Singing, dancing, and drawing. He shows Abrin how to craft a flute and a drum.

The scouts however still practice their skills, what pelts they did have are made into winter clothing for Oeln and his scouts. Coreagen helps them learn the new environment of the snowy forest. Sama and the deep scouts keep patrols below. When they return to the Fountain home he encourages both groups to tell stories of their patrols. The best stories are recorded in the history of the Sharalik on the walls of the Fountainhome.

He will also have the Circle work with the spirits of the sharp stones that Abrin and the other craftsmen use for arrowheads. The Circle will try and convince the stone spirits to be harder, sharper and more resilient to breakage.

When spring comes, the new deep channel river is able to handle to excess flow from the spring run off. As the days warm the Sharalik reemerge into the world, full upon the forest in the glory of spring.

He will take Oeln and a few of the scouts and head to the lair of the spiders. They skirt the edge of the lair, where the smaller animal intelligence spiders are. Being spring, there should be young spiders. He locates the young of one of the smallest types of spiders, that the size of a large dog and captures several. Using magic to keep everything calm.

They will return in haste to the Fountainhome, where the spiders are placed in a room where they can not escape. Coreagen then begins a long process, attempting to raise the native intelligence of the spiders to dog-like levels and to also increase their socialablity to make them friendlier and more easily trained.

 

[WizWrm]

Asveh:
Here's the thing regarding anachronism: nothing is really 'out of its time,' as long as it can be justified within the context and setting. Because of the very un-Earthlike way in which your societies are advancing (due to the guidance of very powerful and intelligent superbeings, as well as the presence of magic and magical creatures), there are bound to be things that come out of order than how they logically should. Case in point: only two of five tribes have the wheel at this point, despite various other technological advances. Plus, you guys are ripping each other off shamelessly anyway. Don't worry too much about that last bit, though.

However, I do think that a national constitution (i.e., legislation governing legislation) is stretching it a bit, especially because your tribe doesn't even have a basic set of laws yet. The idea of a codified legal and justice system hasn't really crossed the minds of your tribesmen - they just abide by the traditions that they've always followed, and anyone who doesn't is either out-numbered or out-dueled. Additionally, the concept of a nation is a bit out of context - besides the lycanthropes (which, I believe, your halflings do not actually know exist yet), your tribe isn't even aware that there are other sentient beings beyond those that live in the village. Also, taxes - being forced to hand over a certain amount of the fruits of your labor, whether you want to or not - is not a familiar or welcome concept, and at this point, most halflings are perfectly willing to give their neighbor a hand when needed anyway.

Therefore, I'm going to say that a constitution would be out-of-character and probably badly received by the halflings (especially the elderly contingent), who might get a little worried about being expected to suddenly obey your every whim. On the other hand, you did have a good idea in trying to organize the halfling society a bit to keep internal conflict to a minimum. If you want, you can present a basic code of laws, which would be more along the lines of defining various crimes and punishments. It doesn't need to be too detailed, although you ought to cover basic crimes (like murder, theft, etc.), as well as a method for resolving disputes that don't involve a crime (like two families arguing over the possession of a wolf cub which has one parent owned by each family), and who will carry out the punishments/judgements. Also, do you want to continue to allow dueling? It's a tradition that's usually fairly rare, when arguments go too far to ever be settled to the satisfaction of either party, but it almost always results in a dead halfling.

Other than that...

Out of all those that you test for magical ability, you find twenty-five who have it. Most can either entangle opponents or put them to sleep, but not both; seven can do either. None are able to cast magic more than two or three times each day before becoming exhausted, however. You assemble them together into a unit, which you name the Blessed Ones. They pray daily, which strengthens you slightly, but you are unable to enhance their magic without virtually casting it yourself. The morale benefit has close to the same effect, however; they are willing to push themselves longer and harder in casting magic with you watching over them.

Thirty-five more halflings (~140 in the tribe total right now) are chosen for the Wolf Guard, and they quickly adapt to use of bows and arrows for hunting.

The ceremony is solemn and dignified, and when it ends you feel a bit stronger than you were before. None choose to remain in spirit-form; you feel that this was a good thing, as you were beginning to tire while maintaining all seven of their spirits in the physical world. Also, you need to define "wickedness," for your purposes; you may want to tie that into your code of laws.

Did I miss anything?

Eilil:
You train the hawks you've captured, and in a few years they are able to hunt birds for the Radu. In combination with the other tactics you've described, hunting (a venue your tribe has never really explored for food before) becomes extremely efficient and there is enough food for all that many more may shift their focus beyond subsistence living. This comes at around the same time you introduce music to the Radu, and they take to it naturally, even developing their own rhythms and melodies. The elves seem much more at ease and more prone to laughter. Spiritually, the Radu are stronger, and you feel more energetic as well.

Within the caves your explorers discovered near the river to the north, a scouting party finds veins of a very hard substance suitable for use in hunting or crafts - metal. However, they do not know how it might be separated from the surrounding rocks.

Coreagen:
You find reasonable success in the arts, and you feel stronger for it. (I think I've written blurbs about that at least three times already. )

Magically, you are only able to improve the stone to a limited degree. Your channel prevents the worst of the flooding, and the Sharalik are able to remain in the Fountain Home.

The spiders seem confused when you capture them and do not put up much of a fight, especially with your calming magic - they've never encountered anything but prey before. When you look into their minds, you find more willful creatures than you had originally thought - they are difficult to affect with magic. Furthermore, some of them show signs of, if not intelligence, at least cleverness, in their efforts to escape, though they don't succeed. For example, one of them tries to hang above the entrance to the stone cavern and drop through when it is opened. At first, they try to attack anything that comes in their room, but with regular feeding (presumably) and a few sharp rebukes (presumably), they cease their attempts. What aspects of their intelligence are you trying to improve specifically? Pack behavior?

 

[Lichtenhart]

Irohim - Volor Gnomes - the unknown island

When he regains control of himself, Irohim will help the three gnomes exploring the island, eventually shielding them and making them invisible should the need arise. He instruct them to gather the fruits and seeds of the new plants they discovered, and to observe the animals they find so they could describe them to the rest of the tribe back at home. As they slowly climb the mountain, he focuses his attention on the surroundings to prevent any attack, but he never forgets to keep an ear out for any Volo at Quam that could call him clutching his starfish charm. When the night falls he remains with the explorers, showing them with his visions everything they ask, their families back at Quam, and anything that could stir their curiosity. He also watches how the Volor learned the new things he taught them before they left for this trip, if they tried to build those musical instruments and if they are enjoying them; he realises that the ropes the women made for the travel could be used to weave nets, and gather many more fishes in a shorter time. That, along with the salt that allows to preserve food, will make the tribe well-fed and healthy, allowing them to have more children and grow in numbers. Happy for this idea, he shares it with Marev, Luagor and Torem, that he's beginning to consider friends, and shows them how they could teach it to the tribe and how everybody will cheer them. When they fall asleep, he turns them invisible and goes exploring the island from above, so he can prevent any bad encounter the following day, see if there are more of those strange creatures and where they come from.

 

[Kavyk]

Yay! Culture

Eilil considers the problem of the metal. Since it seems to be harder than the stone, if he had some, he could use it to break the stone. He needs metal to get metal, which creates something of a conundrum, so he resorts to magic. If he can get enough metal for some sort of tool to break the rock, perhaps something like the stone axes used for cutting wood, or maybe even something like an awl that they used in making wood products, something large, with a hand. An awl-axe?

He stops thinking ahead and focuses on the metal, trying to find that property of it which will allow him to free it from its earthly prison. He tries bending it with the force of his mind, but quickly realizes he will be exhausted with no reward. He runs through the properties of all the substances he knows, finally coming to heat. Perhaps if he can heat the metal, it will come free. And so this is what he attempts. He heats the metal slowly, while pulling a chunk of it with his magic 'fingers'. He is ambitious in this first attempt, trying to get enough for two or three of the awl-axes he envisions. He also realizes quite quickly that he will more than likely have to be the one who works the metal for the first time.

He also thinks that the caves will be an excellent place for yet another settlement and with the metal discovered here, perhaps now is finally the time for it. He doesn't want his people to grow soft, and pioneering is certainly hard work, so he brings a few younger craftspeople and hunters to the caves to be the foundation of the new settlement. Also, with two separate settlements, and a division of settlements at the initial village, it occurs to Eilil that names for the settlements might be in order. Because Alade has served him so faithfully, the cave settlement becomes Alade. He suggests Nest and Corral for the two original settlement, though secretly, in his mind, he refers to them as Eilil's Nest and Eilil's Corral, perhaps even because most of his people do as well.

With a settlement nearer the ocean, Eilil is presented with possibilities which weren't there before. He thinks his canoes aren't going to be large enough to actually traverse the ocean, unless the trees were much, much larger, so he sets a pair of canoe-makers at Nest to figuring out ways to make larger canoes, using smaller models first. Since they are also the same folks who build the wooden houses, they should have all of those techniques to work with as well. Eilil has high hopes for them.

[What kind of clothing do the people wear now? Eilil hasn't introduced anything on this front, beyond the initial animalhair robes, but with hunting, I should think they might have figured out some furs and more leathers. If not, Eilil will help them along this path, so that it also becomes a form of expression, just like music.]

Eilil also suggests that horses might not be the only good animals to keep in corrals. Though the horses are good for riding, perhaps bison or cattle would be good as well. Rather than having to hunt far and wide, a small group could be kept nearby to be used as food and maybe milk could be gotten from the as well, since the animals can produce milk for their young. But he does not know if his people will like milk.

[Has anyone discovered fermentation yet? Still waiting on that one, since it has to be an accident the first time, I think.]

 

[Wrahn]

Naming the circle

Aeden and Lorn are brothers, Vael is the son of Kaysha, Sidda and Moeya are young women without siblings, and Delak, who is nominally considered the leader of the circle has a brother who is not gifted.

Aesa who has the talent for magic, is taught a little by Coreagen himself. When she is old enough she too will join the circle, but for now, she is allowed to play and be a child. Aeden and Lorn are often paired with Sidda and Moeya, to encourage a relationship.

One beautiful spring morning, Coreagen brings the circle to the edge of the forest. He is sharing Aesa’s body, [COLOR=RoyalBlue}”You have all been working very hard, your skill and power have increased. This morning it is time to take another step.”[/COLOR] Aesa steps to a bush. She reaches out and plucks a small leaf from it. Coreagen shows her what she needs to do and buttresses her against the drain that the magics will put on her. She sings an odd song, different from what is used on the elemental spirits. It takes a little time as there is an interchange of energy from Aesa and the bush, but after a moment, the small leaf regrows. He show it to them several times and then has them attempt it.

Coreagen is encouraged by the signs of cleverness in the spiders. Tyga, a middle aged woman who has an affinity for animals most often shares her body with Coreagen when dealing with the spiders. She feeds them and tends to their needs. Once he is sure that they will not harm Tyga, he will have her sit and sing to them. He expands and touches their spirits, letting them feel his love and joy.

Little by little he will show them there is more than just prey, that the Sharalik are their friends, their allies, expanding their minds beyond the simple hunger that they feel, so they care about others around them. At first only the other spiders, but eventually to encompass the Sharalik as well. He takes his time, patiently changing the spiders to make a new breed.

Meanwhile over the course of the spring, summer and fall, he encourages the scouts to go further, to expand their knowledge of both the above and the below. He spends most of the time working with the spiders and Tyga, that which he doesn’t is spent with the circle showing them new things to do with plants, including healing the plant, curing sickness from plants,, and increasing the growth rate.

Those times that the circle is not working with plants, it continues to work on the Fountainhome. Carving more chambers. He encourages others to work with the Circle, trying to make the Fountainhome a place of artistic beauty.

 

[WizWrm]

Irohim:
The island is mostly similar to Quam in flora and fauna, but there are a couple types of plants the gnomes have not seen before, so they collect them, as instructed.

Like Quam, there is very little large animal life, and nothing inland that could reasonably threaten the gnomes. You scan the entire island, but do not see any more vicious, bubbling creatures like the one that attacked you earlier.

Back on Quam, you find that the gnomes have indeed continued to build the instruments you showed them, and are fashioning a few new kinds to augment their music, as well. Additionally, you show the gnomes how to make nets; one of them had already gotten the idea of 'lassoing' things at long range with a rope (to only small success with some of the larger turtles and lizards), it was therefore a simple matter for you to show them to put several ropes together to make a net, which could be thrown to capture marine animals or used with bait to capture large amounts of fish, all with much less labor than their style of marine hunting required.

Eilil:
By heating the metal, you cause it to expand and crack the surrounding stone. At higher temperatures, it flows like molasses, and you are able to pull it from the rock with little effort. You imagine the metal shaping itself into the form you desire, and as you watch, it moves to match what you've envisioned - a tool that the Radu will be able to use to chip away the stone the get shards of metal from, which they could use fire to heat and then beat into shape.

You bring a few dozen of your people (numbering slightly over a hundred right now) to the caves for a new settlement, and within two years Alade is nearly self-sufficient. They construct housing areas just outside the caves, using the nearby (~5 miles) forest to provide enough wood to construct huts and furniture, as well as the clay from the river. Outlaying the houses are a few fields, growing several of the edible plants the Radu rely on. In one of the larger caverns, they set up a half-dozen firepits for heating metal and for cooking their food, in order to keep the fire away from the wooden houses and flammable grass. You give them the tools you made with magic, and though the work is slow, they manage to extract enough metal from the caves for high-quality arrows and a couple more axes. The latter greatly speeds the construction of the settlement, since they no longer have to spend time searching for more flint when an axe breaks; the metal axes need occasional sharpening (using hard rocks), but they never break.

A few of the elves dedicate themselves to crafting canoes, and they figure out how to lash several canoes together for much greater cargo or passenger capaity. However, after much trial-and-error, one of them expands the basic concept of a dugout to a larger craft, made of multiple planks/logs and with a curved belly, that supports a great deal of weight and is much more stable when the seas get rough (something they never really needed to worry about in the river).

Yes, the Radu use mostly furs and leathers at this point, although some decorate their garments with wooden beads or colorful plants.

With your suggestion, the elves try to capture a few bison. It is difficult, but with the aid of a few trained wolves and the lone Radu who can soothe animals with magic, they are able to catch and put them within an expansive fence, with enough grass so that it will grow back in time for the bison to sustain themselves. The need for hunting is reduced, though there are not enough bison yet that they can breed faster than you eat them. Bison milk is found to be mostly inedible by the Radu, unfortunately.

At last, a jar of fruit is left in the sun too long, and it ferments, to the great confusion of the elves who consume it.

Coreagen:
The new magic you teach them comes quickly, as they find it to be similar to the techniques they used to enrich the soil.

Under your care, the spiders become less predatory and more protective of their fellows, including the Sharalik. Once day you send two spiders out with a hunting party. They are ambushed by a bear, but one of the spiders leaps toward it, frightening it and causing it to retreat. The spider does not pursue, showing its intent in merely keeping the hunting party safe. You are greatly encouraged by this, for this breed of spiders, possessing neither bladed forelimbs nor innate magic, always avoided bears before. While only the largest spiders can carry a human on its back, all of them are a great boon to hunting, and eventually you no longer need to keep them captive, and allow them to roam, knowing that they will return, or send them to accompany hunting parties.

Three more years pass, and you complete the construction of the Fountain Home. Aesa is now old enough to join the Circle. Additionally, the first of your followers dies, and you need to decide what happens to his spirit.

Scouting parties chart deeper within the caves, eventually following the river to its limit - a mighty underground sea. Aboveground, they follow the river into the prairie, what they find being dependent on how far you let them go (in terms of days/weeks/months/years worth of traveling).