With a gentle smile on his face, Venu nodded mildly. Without delay, Hylli rushed outside.
”Yay!”
She shouted, her face filled with delight. Her bright aura made Venu smile. At the time, the tribe was doing well. With the strong and endurant Forg around, everyone have been able to get proper wooden housing, even though his sense of moral was questionable. Still wearing his faint smile, Venu slowly walked outside, his gaze meeting the spring sun's calm light that was showering down over the tribe.
”If just these peaceful times would last forever.”
”Oh, you're out here Ramm- I mean...”
Venu's eyes dart over to his side, seeing Manuri standing right next to him.
”How long have you been there?”
Manuri gives off one of her well-known friendly smiles and spice it with a small feminine giggle.
”I just arrived.”
Venu laughed heartily when he heard her answer.
”When do you think these peaceful days will end?”
Manuri seemed flustered at the question.
”Ah! Eh... I don't know...”
Venu turned his head to look at the children whom were playing in front of him, letting out a deep sigh.
”Well, I guess that's true.”
He mumbled lowly for himself.
”One day, you are sitting in comfort and luxury, the next, your throat is getting ripped open by a wolf. I've seen it all too many times before. So, while this peace persists, I will simply smile. Smile to the world as the world smiles to me...”
Manuri stared at Venu in confusion.
”Err... Yes... I guess that makes sense but... Why are you so happy all of a sudden?”
Venu let out a deep sigh and glared into the ground.
”You know this won't last forever. So I want to enjoy it while it does. Tomorrow, we might be starving to death, tonight we might accidentially burn down one of our houses, and in a minute, an enemy tribe might arrive at our borders.”
Manuri gave a small confused nod.
”I think the best way to enjoy happy moments is to forget that they will end.”
Venu gazed up at Manuri with a surprised look on his face.
”I wish I could do that.”
”If you cannot do it yourself, then ask for a childs help.”
Venu laughed at her words.
”Since when did you get so wise?
Manuri gave off a kind smile.
”Who knows?”
After the two had finished talking, Venu would spend the rest of the day playing around with the kids. Although Manuri originally had wanted to ask him something, she decided to leave him be; She didn't want to ruin Venu's happiness.
However, the very next day, his peace would be destroyed by a single ominous message.
…
Just like the day before, the sun was shining and the plants were growing in harmony around the village. Today, the tribe farmers had begun seeding their farms with wheat. Along with those farmers were Forg, helping the farmers with their work.
”Forg, can you come over here and help me carry this bag of seeds?”
Forg shot out his chest with a happy and proud motion.
”Of course! You can rely on me.”
The farmer smiled awkwardly at Forg's extreme enthusiasm. Forg liked to work. A lot. If you were not aware of it, you had never really seen Forg.
”How do you remain so energetic, Forg?”
Forg proudly grins while crossing his arms.
”Work! I work!”
The farmer laughed awkwardly at his response.
”Yes, I guess you do.”
Forg laughed at the farmers response, only to suddenly cease motion, his eyes gazing into the blue fresh air.
”Is something the matter, Forg?”
He turned around to face the outskirts of the tribe, a wild glare filling his eyes.
”Someone's coming!”
He turned towards the tribe and shouted from the top of his lungs.
”Someone's coming! Hurry, grab your weapons!”
The tribesmen dropped everything they had in their arms and quickly grabbed the nearest weapon. With a confident nod, Forg rushed towards the weapon nearest to him; A wooden stick used for plowing fields. With no time to waste, he rushed towards the intruders and screamed from the top of his lungs.
”For Venu!”
But out of nowhere, the tribe wiseperson appeared and stopped his movement with his elemental magic, lifting him up from the ground by using the air element.
”Rerlirli! Are you with them? Was this your plan all along?!”
The wiseperson gave the paranoid and anxious Forg a calm and determined look.
”They're not our enemies.”
Although Forg didn't believe Rerlirli's word, he had little choice in the matter, as he was hanging in the middle of the air. When the foreigners came closer, most were amazed at what they saw. By using a tame creature, the foreigners were able to carry large loads of goods. This was something the tribe had never seen before.
”We come to bring no harm.”
The man leading the caravan yelled.
”We come to bring you supplies.”
Rerlirli slowly lowered Forg down to the ground and then let go of him. He gave the man a small nod, and waved for the caravan to come closer. Forg glared angrily at Rerlirli and pointed at him with all his muscles tensed up as to seem threatening.
”If you die, it's your own fault!”
And with that said, Forg left for the agricultural fields again, his every step echoing in the distant forests.
Soon after, the caravan reached the outskirts of the village. Behind Rerlirli stood a large range of tribesmen and women with weapons in their hands; Only Rerlirli himself was unarmed.
In total, the caravan was accompanied by three men. The one in the front went up Rerlirli with a stern and seemingly immovable facial expression.
”Hello fellow humans. We are from the city-state of Rhein, and we've come to seek your aid.”
The people behind Rerlirli froze in confusion. The man ignored the confusion and looked only at Rerlirli.
”What is your tribe's name?”
”Venu. We're the Tribe of Venu.”
”Very well then...”
He took a deep breath before beginning to utter a message that would forever change the life in the tribe...
“Tribe of Venu, racial brothers, dark times are approaching.
We have recently been informed by our scouts and our seers that an ancient force, a force that once before in ancient human history caused destruction and poverty, is to return by the rise of the next full moon.
In order to fend off the wave of darkness, we'll need all the help we can get. We do not expect you to come and serve in our wars, we simply expect you to survive for a while. By surviving, you will stall some of darkness that threatens us all – by dying quick deaths, you will enhance the darkness, which will then come as a strengthened storm to consume our borders. Call it selfish, but our tools is all that is going to stand between you and death.
We know little of the enemies nature, but we do know that sexual interactions with any darklings is strictly prohibited. If you want to know why, you must figure it out by yourself. Sorry for any inconvenience this may bring.
Good luck and greetings from Rhein. End of message.”
Rerlirli lowered his head without uttering a word.
”Also, I am to be stationed in this tribe in order to help you out in any way possible. My two men will, however, return to Rhein.”
Rerlirli gave a short depressed nod.
”You are welcome to stay, young man.”
The tribesmen began talking, debating whether this was a good idea or not. Some were not too satisfied with letting him stay, others believed it to be in the tribe's best interest if what he said was true. Either way, the caravan's load was emptied and put into the tribe's storages. The foreigners had brought fine axes and swords sharper than anyone in the village had ever seen before and they were all of a strange and brownish hue that no one had seen before. Once the caravan was empty, two of the foreigners began to ride back to Rhein while the messenger stayed. It was by then that Venu called for a tribe meeting by the central fireplace.
After all tribesmembers, including you, had met up by the center, Venu stepped up on a big stone near the fireplace with a saddened look on his face. For a while, he would simply glance over over his fellow tribemembers, not uttering a word. After a while, Venu finally composed himself and began his speech.
”Tribesmen! We have received a dark message. A cursed message. A message spelling out the doom of our tribe.
But tribesmen! Does this mean we should give up on our lands? Does this mean that we should give up on our friends and families?
The answer is 'no'! We will give the darkness what it deserves, even if we're inevitably doomed to die. For we are the Venu; A tribe of honor and pride!
Today, we must once again find the spirit that have ensured our survival to this day! With determination and dedication, we will be victorious even in death.
Hence, I will waste no more time and get right to the thick of it.
Craftsmen! I order you to build walls around the city so that we have to cover less ground once the enemies arrive.
Scouts and diplomats! I order you to contact the Mahia and Ronor tribes. It's important that they are prepared as well. As long as they stick around, they will be able to fight the darkness with us.
Warriors! Train day and night, only to rest once before the dawn of darkness.
The full moon will rise in a week. We have no time to waste. Are you with me? Will you raise your spears at my command?”
As the speech stops, the tribe roars and cheers. Now, it's the time for you to take part of the tribe. What will your actions be? How will you defend the tribe? Will you be the genius that invents new ideas and technologies, or the warrior that repels enemy invaders? Will you be the hardworking craftsman that builds houses and weapons, or will you be the hunter that gathers food for the tribe?
The survival of the tribe is in your hands.
For background information, check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3432
This thread will only contain in-character responses. All communication between players is to happen in the thread above, PM's or anything else that is not this thread.
Also, signatures are recommended to be opted-out if you know how to do that. (It's in the options every time you post as long as you do not use the quick-reply function)
