Chapter 9 < Chapter 10 > Chapter 11
Chapter 10 - "A proper foundation"
The process of digging a new home for the Ashrani is slow, but steady. I double-check every step in the process before executing it, to prevent loosing valuable DP. As we progress, the DP is dropping with a considerable speed and where I first thought that I have a rather big amount to my disposal I have to realize now, it's not as much as it seemed. In the end I decide to cut some edges here and there. The central meeting place for example, ended up a bit smaller then initially planned. I also placed just two of the Living-Caves, instead of four. I will advance both, when I'm sure that I can afford it. For now, they will have to manage with this.
During my work, I talk with Orsha. Nothing overly Important, I just wanted to know more about their Culture - how they spend their daily life, or what they believe in.
Basically, their whole lifestyle could be described with just one Word: "Hunting"!
For the Ashrani, or Lizard-Man in general, hunting is not just a necessary activity to survive. Instead, it's everywhere in their culture: it's the core-part of their daily live, philosophy and even religion. This begins with all of the Ashrani being considered as hunters, independent of their age, gender, or social standing. The Ashrani believe that after they die, they will join their ancestors in - what they call - "The Great Hunt". If they kill a strong creature, they take a trophy from it, like the feathers, that where taken from the Harpa last time. This Trophies are buried with them, when they die. In the afterlife, their value as hunters is judged upon the prey they killed during their live time. If the Ancestors decide, that your trophies are worthless, then you may not join the ranks of the hunters, but become prey instead.
Another thing, that is buried with the dead are their weapons. Every hunter has to build their own weapons. [A good weapon, makes a good hunter! And a good hunter makes good weapons!] At least, that's what Orsha said. An Ashrani would use someone else's weapon only if his live depends on it. That's why none of them took the Swords of the dead soldiers, despite them being in rather good condition. And Orsha confirmed, that this was also the reason, why they didn't care for the weapons and gear of their fallen brothers after their first fight. They died here and got absorbed by the dungeon, so this makes it their grave. And that means, their weapons "belong" here.
At least, I now know, that they are not worshiping me. They don't even have a word for "worship", as they don't have any gods in their religion. Instead, they see our relationship more as an alliance, in which they treat me with great respect, as they consider me more powerful then them.
"zachár" - One hunter who hunts small fry for food.
"zachríg" - A tactic, where several hunters drive a group, or a single big animal into a corner.
"zach-gor"- Attacking and killing a dangerous foe, to ensure the safety of the tribe. (not necessarily for food.)
"ro-zach" - A protective battle against wild beasts (Turn the hunter into pray.)
"nor-zach-ra" - Means "The Great Hunt" and refers to the afterlife.
"gor-garésh" - Witch translates as "Last Hunt". It is used when fighting off a great threat, that endangers the whole existence of their tribe.
There are more, for very specific situations, but I can't possibly remember them all. One that I find funny is "zachsír", which refers to collect fruit. It is also considered a "hunt", because you need to "find" and "get" them. Everything is a hunt ... In fact, their battle against the humans was both; "zachríg" and "zach-gor" as well as Hassags current campaign against the Harpas nest. Their Battles against the Harpas would both be considered "ro-zach".
By the time we finished our work, I feel like I know them a whole lot better. At least I understand them more. Orsha is seemingly happy that I show so much interest in her culture and is telling me way more, then I am asking for. After taking a last look around, she agrees that this will do.
Orsha: [Ashrani will soon come and make homes in this place.]
Me: [I'm looking forward to it!]
It seems that we finished right in time, since the flame in Orshas "fire-to-carry" is getting dimmer.
Me: [Let's head outside for now.]
Orsha: [Yes!]
I take a worried look at my DP-count:
{DP - 2056}
it was almost 3000 when we started. It should still be enough to make the cave more complete and comfortable, but there are more important expanses to do. Before the Ashrani tribe migrates here, proper defense matters are in order, and right now I have no idea how much it will cost. Aside from that, I want to keep some points for emergencies. I'm still encountering new features and possibilities, and most of them cost DP. If I manege to find out, how to give abilities or powers to the Lizard-Man, then I would like to do so right away. And I'm sure, it won't be free. As long as I don't know how to get more DP, I need to be careful with what I have.
...
The sun traveled a good bit over the slightly cloudy sky. Several hours must have passed since we entered the underground.
Me: [It took longer then expected ...]
Orsha: [ ... Does the great spirit "Kalifos", need Orsha for something else? Does the great spirit have more questions?]
I actually do, but right now my fingertips are itching to check on the dungeon-heart. It's also past midday, the girls might be hungry. And Orsha looks like she has something else to do. Maybe she is tending to the injured in Hassags absence, or she just wants to tell everybody about our progress today. Well, I don't care for the reason ...
Me: [Orsha, let's meet again in a few hours. I have something important to do right now.]
Orsha: [Hours? ... Orsha does not understand ...]
Ah, right, they don't know about proper time-measurement. Wait ... how do I know about it? ... Again, random knowledge. But this way, it would be difficult to agree with them on a specific time. - Not that there is a way to tell the specific time, since there is no clock around ...
Me: [... Just come later during the day. We need to talk about, how to protect your new home.]
Orsha: [Yes! Orsha will come!]
She energetically moves to the other two, who where guarding the tower this whole time. After exchanging a few words, they went off into the forest. As soon as they leave my territory, I can feel how my link to Orsha breaks off. [So I really can't talk to them outside of my dungeon-area.] Well I can't speak with most of them even if they are inside of it. [Wait ... I actually never tried!] Maybe Sari and Orsha are the only ones capable of "opening" a connection, but everyone is able to "receive" it ... Checking this out will be another point on my to-do list. Now to the core room.
The dungeon-heart emits its yellow light on the walls of the room, like it always does. This way, it somehow looks calm. As far as a yellow orb can be called calm, that is. As I approach it, I feel excitement rising, even more then with all other things I tried out before. A feeling deep inside is telling me that I'm about to learn something important right now.
And my Intuition does not betray me.
As I focus on the Orb, a window appears, that differs from all the others, I saw before:
){}---------------------------------{}(
General Dungeon Information
- Info Screen
- Map
- Soul Management
Item Management
- Item List
- Item Creation
- Construction Menu
Inhabitants
- Creature Spawners
- Creature Overview
Dungeon Control
- Relocate Core
- Lords Powers
- Research
- Achievements
- Alarms
){}---------------------------------{}(
I'm stunned ... this looks like a complete overview of all my possibilities. While there are some points that I already discovered and worked with, some are completely new. ["Research", "Spawning Creatures", "Soul Overview", "Lord's Powers" ...] Even the option to relocate the core is here, which is the reason that brought me to inspecting it in the first place. That's all a bit overwhelming. I should probably start at the top, and work through it one by one, but I can't restrain myself and start with the one, that seems the most ridiculous in my eyes:
I'm stunned ... this looks like a complete overview of all my possibilities. While there are some points that I already discovered and worked with, some are completely new. ["Research", "Spawning Creatures", "Soul Overview", "Lord's Powers" ...] Even the option to relocate the core is here, which is the reason that brought me to inspecting it in the first place. That's all a bit overwhelming. I should probably start at the top, and work through it one by one, but I can't restrain myself and start with the one, that seems the most ridiculous in my eyes:
){}---------------------------------{}(
Creature Spawners:
Magical / Beasts / Naval / Flying
Ghost Lantern - 200 DP
Slime Pool - 500 DP
){}---------------------------------{}(
[Thats ... ] That newly discovered feature is obviously meant to create creatures. [Now I'm also able to create live-forms? ... ] Just what exactly am I with such a power in my hands. How much more, until I can compare myself to a god? ["Magical", "Beasts", "Naval", and Flying".] I read it out one more time to make sure I don't misunderstand the matter. I should probably be happy to have such a power presented to me on a silver-plate, but I realize that it's not a lightly to take matter. I could seriously get a god-complex, if I start to randomly spawn creatures left and right.
Leaving aside concerns for my mental state, there are other things that I need to know first. Like: [Do I need to provide food as well, or are they self-sustaining? How will they react on the Ashrani? How strong or dangerous are they?] As I think, I swap through the other categories of the menu:
){}---------------------------------{}(
Creature Spawners:
Magical / Beasts / Naval / Flying
Rabit Dwelling - 350 DP
Snake Nest - 400 DP
){}---------------------------------{}(
){}---------------------------------{}(
Creature Spawners:
Magical / Beasts / Naval / Flying
No spawners available yet.
No spawners available yet.
){}---------------------------------{}(
){}---------------------------------{}(
Creature Spawners:
Magical / Beasts / Naval / Flying
No spawners available yet.
No spawners available yet.
){}---------------------------------{}(
The last two categories are empty. Still, there are 4 nest types available. But as far as I see, these are all "Spawners", like "Nests" and "Dwellings". [So the actual creatures will spawn from them?] Some of them are a bit unclear, though. While it's obvious what the "Rabbit Dwelling" and the "Snake Nest" will create, [... what is a "slime pool" suppose to produce? ... Slime? ... Slimy Creatures?] Well, the "Ghost Lantern" will make ... "ghosts" ... I suppose? It's quite vague.
I would love to test it out, but again, I don't know how the Ashrani will react on them. [I don't even know if the creatures will listen to my command, or if they will act independently.] What if they start roaming around, attacking the Lizard-Man? I would need to try that out in a secluded area first ... which I will have to create first ... [Well, this is definitely something, I need to figure out!] I can't ignore so much potential. But for now ... [What else is on the list?]
I focus on the orb again to open it's main screen. Just in case, I select the "Creature Overview", only to go back again, because it's empty. [... What in all world is "Soul Management"?] By opening it, a new window appears, that contains a list of entries, similar to the Item List:
){}---------------------------------{}(
Soul List:
Normal Soul: Dark Elf "Feraldis"
Normal Soul: Dark Elf "Ramora"
Normal Soul: Dark Elf "Gremon"
Weak Soul: Rabbit
Weak Soul: Rabbit
Weak Soul: Black-wing Bat
Weak Soul: Black-wing Bat
Weak Soul: Rabbit
Weak Soul: Black-wing Bat
Weak Soul: Rat
Weak Soul: Black-wing Bat
Weak Soul: Rabbit
Weak Soul: Ferret
Weak Soul: Rat
Weak Soul: Rabbit
Normal Soul: Lizard-Man "Eshróg"
Normal Soul: Lizard-Man "Hángesh"
Normal Soul: Human "Tamani"
Normal Soul: Lizard-Man "Esh-megór"
Weak Soul: War Dog
Normal Soul: Lizard-Man "Samár"
Normal Soul: Human "Branok"
Weak Soul: War Dog
Normal Soul: Human "Walkir"
Weak Soul: Horned Rabbit
Weak Soul: Fire-Monkey
Weak Soul: Harpy
Weak Soul: Harpy
Weak Soul: Harpy
Weak Soul: Harpy
Weak Soul: Harpy
){}---------------------------------{}(
[What the ... ?] It's a register of ... animals and ... people ...
I takes me some time to understand, what I'm looking at. But slowly it begins to make sense. There are these 5 Harpy's at the end of the list. It's the exact amount, that was absorbed by the dungeon-core. Also, they are at the bottom of the list, like, they are the last entries. If I go up on the list, I can see the creatures and people, that got absorbed by the core in a chronological order, aside from some I don't recognize. This is a list of creatures, that my dungeon-core absorbed ... [Why do I need to know that? ... Wait ...] It says, this is a "Soul List". It's not a mare register of what happened, it's a list of "Souls" that were absorbed. This means ... [They are still in there, somewhere ...]
No matter how you look at it, this is just creepy! It also said in the main-screen, that this is the "Soul Control" section. Does that mean, I can manipulate them in some way? I am not even sure if I really want to know about that. First eating the souls of the dead, and now messing around with them? This is a bit heavy on my mind.
But that aside, there is something strange about that list, like; [what's with that first half of entries?] I remember the events since that battle with the human soldiers, but what about all that absorbed souls above that? If the List is really chronological, then ... [what the hell happened before I woke up!?]
It all starts with 3 Dark Elves. [Dark Elves ...] I know what they are. As I think about them, an image of slender people with a dark skin appears in my mind.
For some reason I think they are quite aggressive in their nature. Despite that, I feel some familiarity towards them. Like I had to do with them a long time ago. [This is strange ...] I didn't feel any familiarity to the Lizard-Man when I met them, or the humans. I didn't even know, what "Lizard-Man" are, until I was told, that is different here. [Why the Dark Elves? What connects me to them?] ...
Again, more Questions. I bet this three could answer them ... even their names are shown here. ["Feraldis", "Ramora" and "Gremon", ...] I wonder who they where. That said, the dead Lizard-Man had names too. I guess, telling Orsha that the souls of their fallen brothers are not - like they expected - hunting with their ancestors, but are held prisoner inside the Dungeon-Core, would not be the wisest idea. If it ever becomes necessary to tell them, I should be very delicate on that matter.
There is also the hard-to-miss fact, that the souls are divided in "Weak Souls" and "Normal
Souls". Weak souls are mostly just animals, while normal souls belong to people. Also, everyone who has a name, has a normal soul. It's interesting, that that Harpies count as "Weak Souls" and don't poses names. During the Fight, I thought that both factions, the Lizard-Man and the Harpies, where about equal in strength. The Ashrani just won due to their tactical way of fighting. [Maybe that's exactly what the difference is.] The fact, that the Harpies don't even have names, shows that they don't have a society, like the Lizard Man. I guess, they are more like a pack ... Just like animals.
But leaving all that aside ... [These souls ... What am I supposed to do with them?] ... ... ...
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A.N.: Remember that most pictures contain a link to extra sites with more information.
Souls". Weak souls are mostly just animals, while normal souls belong to people. Also, everyone who has a name, has a normal soul. It's interesting, that that Harpies count as "Weak Souls" and don't poses names. During the Fight, I thought that both factions, the Lizard-Man and the Harpies, where about equal in strength. The Ashrani just won due to their tactical way of fighting. [Maybe that's exactly what the difference is.] The fact, that the Harpies don't even have names, shows that they don't have a society, like the Lizard Man. I guess, they are more like a pack ... Just like animals.
But leaving all that aside ... [These souls ... What am I supposed to do with them?] ... ... ...
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A.N.: Remember that most pictures contain a link to extra sites with more information.
Thanks 4 the chapter, I like how the spin with the dark elves at the end.
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DeleteYou didn't think i would forget about them, did you? :D
Hoped you wouldn't
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