After 350 years of blizzards and crushing ice, there is a slight lull in winter's fury, as if Mulcarn is distracted by something. The Children of Kylorin the last great Archmage take up their swords and seek to bring about The Thaw and save mankind!
Winter has plagued man for the last three hundred and fifty years with no end in sight. Civilizations have fallen, and the hope of summer has long since even been a dream. In the northern reaches of the known Amurite territory lives the small tribe known as the Wolf. Nomadic men and woman who eek out a living hunting wild game and battling the elements. The Wolf are one of the smallest of the Amurite Tribes living in small extended family units that roam up and down the forests just west of the Seal Tribes northern boarders. They deal the most with the barbarian tribes of the northwest regions, both trading and fighting.
Sitting around a crackling fire the hunters of the Wolf are somber and silent for it is the night before the Big Hunt. Tomorrow the warriors will venture from this small camp and seek the great elk herds that roam these steppes. This great hunt will feed the tribe for weeks, and the hides and furs taken will last the tribe for a year. Each male of the tribe is expected to bring home one elk to support his family. Yet all the great hunters hope to bag themselves the greatest of the elks, the larger and more powerful, the more prestige the hunter gets. The greater the rack, the more virile the man is said to be. It is a key factor for the woman of the tribe in selecting a husband.
Tonight brothers sit around the small fire with a few other younger men, everyone is silent, introspective, and focused on the hunt to come. Tomorrow night, the fires will blaze huge, and the tribe will be reveling in the joy of the post hunt events, but not tonight. The sky is overcast, and cloudy, and the wind howls like a wolf from the west.
Welcome to the Age of Ice heyyon and Xer! Only these two Wolf Tribesmen should post to this thread unless otherwise told to.
Game on!
Last edited by Vardaen on Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
Jeger sits by the fire, his knee bouncing at quickened pace. His eyes dart around at the other hunters. Their last minute preparations draw his attention for just a moment before he locks his stare back on the fire. Other members of the tribe sit silent and focused, but Jeger waits like a dog on a leash. He knows the elk are out there. Waiting was never much his game.
Trejune sits near the fire, warming his hands and avoiding eye contact with the other hunters. He looks across the flame to his younger brother, Jeger, and to the phantom wolf sitting at attention by Jeger's side, invisible to all but Trejune.
Trejune sighs, wrapping his hands tightly around his gnarled staff and pulling back from the fire. His spirit guide shifts uncomfortably across from him, and stands up to circle around his younger brother. The wolf, like his protective instincts, never seemed to be far from the younger boy.
The fire pops and throws sparks into the night sky several feet above the youths. The others at the fire back up a few breaths to stay away from the active fire. Then one picks up a log and tosses it on the fire, the frozen wood crackles and smolders and doesn't catch right away. Other fires around camp pop and crackle as well. Finally one of the other youths, Nujlik, glances up and around at the others by the fire. "Think you will get an Elk?" The young man is hardly that, and most will call him a boy, at least until tomorrow should he get himself a kill.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
Jeger laughs as he stands, with an abrupt jauntiness. He strides over to Nujlik and releases a hearty bellow. "I will kill an elk so large to feed us all for a month." He slaps his hand down onto Nujlik's shoulder, shocking his small frame. "...And if you hang around me, I'll find you a calf that you might down!" He laughs again, enjoying the boast at the boy's expense.
Trejune smiles at Jeger's comments, and looks to the younger boy. "Just don't be as reckless as Jeger, here," he says, laughing at his brother, "We can't all have such glorious first hunts."
"Bhaha!" Jeger stops laughing only long enough to begin again, louder and more forceful than ever. "If we were so lucky, there'd be nothing left to hunt!"
The young man Nujik nearly jumps with a start as the hands of Jeger are slammed down on his shoulder in a boast. It does seem to get the somber mood lifted from the fire, and he laughs with the others. "I will get me a Elk! If you can manage it Jeger, then I certainly can." He winks at the man's brother, knowing they some times like to tease each other.
As the small group continues to talk and boast about the coming hunt there is a sudden shout. Someone blows a horn blast on the far side of camp three sharp times. The Warning Signal!
Nujik stands up with a start and grabs his spear next to him, "The warning blast! We are under attack?!" He turns from left to right looking into the night's darkness beyond the camp fire, his face white with fear.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
No time to think. Jeger turns and runs. His pack stays left on the ground... what in it might he need? His spear stays rested against the downed log he sat on seconds before. Still, his club is slung from a rope around his waste. If he needed a weapon, this would break a body as well as any spear.
"I don't know! Just run!" Jeger spends only a moment yelling to Nujlik. Before a few strides, he'll be well past the boy and most of the tribe. While his mind is racing and his heart is already at a fevered pace, his feet can match them.
"Jeger, wait!" Trejune shouts after him, and leaps from his log, leaving all but his staff behind. He scowls angrily, and quickly looks around camp, spotting Nijlik.
"Follow me, little one." He forcefully demands, yanking on the boy's collar, and begins running after his younger sibling.
