The Great Eagle and How It Led the Hunters to the Valley

Many seasons past, the People lived on the river.  They fished the rivers and they hunted the herds.  One day, the great chief Pagh, who was a strong warrior, went to his medicine woman.  And he said, “The river is rising.  Is this a Sign?”

And Zifu, for that was how the medicine woman was called, said “This is not a sign.  Rivers rise sometimes, and fall sometimes.  All things change.”

And Pagh said, “Why do all things change?”  But Zifu did not know.

The very next day, the People came to a great plain, where they met all the tribes of the world.  There were the Serpent People, and the Fox People, and the Bear People, and the Tiger People.  And there were so many people there, the very earth shook.

The Serpent People said, “The earth is shaking.  Is this a Sign?”

And Pagh, who was very wise and learned the teachings of the medicine woman, said, “Sometimes the earth shakes and sometimes it does not.  All things change.”

And the Serpent People said, “Why do all things change?”  But Pagh did not know.

Just then the Great Eagle appeared in the sky, and the people were afraid.  And the Great Eagle brought forth Four Hunters who are her champions.

“O Great Eagle,” said the People, “why must the rivers rise?  Why must the earth shake?  Why must all things change?”

The Eagle did not say, but she said, “It is a quest.  Go ye into the mountains, where I have taken the answer and placed it inside an egg.  When that egg is hatched and grows, then you shall have your answer.”

And thus the People did so, and followed the Great Eagle’s words, and they went into the mountains.  And there in the mountains the People saw the Eagle’s nest, and in the next they found the egg, and from it hatched an eagle, and the people truly knew that all things must change.

But in the mountains it was cold, and in the mountains there was little to hunt, and the People said, “Where is there food?  Who will lead us?  It is very cold and we are hungry.”

Again the Great Eagle appeared, and again the Four Hunters appeared, and the Great Eagle said, “It is a quest.  Those among you who are best at finding food must do so, and whoever succeeds shall lead, and take for a mate any in the tribe.”

One man, Bkesh, said he would slaughter every animal, and the people would feast, but the Eagle said, “And what would you eat next season?  All things, even Eagles, come from eggs.  Who would lay the eggs?”  And Bkesh was ashamed.

Another man, Ktope, said he found a Valley, where lived the great herds of huaca, a thousand times more food than any man could eat.  But he said, “I do not know how to hunt the huaca.  We must sit and watch.”  And the Eagle said, “Would you have your people starve?”  And Ktope, too, was ashamed.

But then the medicine woman, Jebba, said, “Great Eagle, you have said we must not kill too much, and you have said we must not kill too little.  Your people are confused.  What must we do?”

The Great Eagle called to his Four Hunters, and they took Jebba away into the forest and showed her the secret of the cages, and they taught her mighty spells to tame the huaca, and Jebba did bring back to the Eagle People a mighty beast for their own, but only one:  such a beast in those days was larger even than five of the huaca today.

And the Great Eagle said, “You, Jebba, shall be leader, and you shall have your choice of mates.”

But Jebba said, “Mighty Eagle, I do not wish to be leader.  I am a simple medicine woman.”

And the Great Eagle said, “You have tamed a huaca and fed your people.  Who else among your people can do the same?”

And Jebba said, “I will lead my people, Great Eagle, but I do not choose my mate to be Bkesh or Ktope.  I choose Ammad, the Tool-Maker, for he helped me to build the cages.”

And from that day, the People of the Great Eagle did live among the trees and hunt the huaca.

Year 30,000: The Abequa (Pagh) Enter The Great Valley

Previous history

     Year 0: The Pagh go on a quest into the mountains

The Pagh tribe has been exploring the mountains on their quest to see why the Earth moves.  In fact, they've been exploring so very many years that they've forgotten all about the reason they came here; all the remember is a vague cultural understanding that life is filled with Quests.  Since the Players chose to reinforce the general notion that every tribe should have a medicine man (or woman), but had refused to characterize the earthquake with fanciful omens back in  Year Zero, now it is tradition for the Abequa to be led by a strong warrior, and magic and mysticism are deprecated.

The tribe, now called Abequa, have come through a high valley, where food has been scarce.  This is a way of life for them, rather than a transitory phase; discipline is strict so that nobody gorges on food or eats more than his share.  All resources are carefully shared.

The leader for the Event in Round 2 is the warrior Bkesh (M), who rules and judges based on strength.  He emphasizes competition, fitness, and survival, largely because their environment is so harsh and unforgiving.  Those who cannot keep up the pace, or hunt their share, are left behind.  The tribe is strong and brave, and they possess good tools, but they treat their magic-born children (those with the GURPS Advantage called Magery) as second-class citizens.  Wizards are tools of the warriors, in essence, especially if they are physically weak.  There is only one mage-talented member of the sparse Abequa tribe, and that is meek Jebba the Healer (F), daughter of the previous medicine woman Ezvat (now deceased).

There is an argument at hand which prompts the summoning of the Great Spirits.  The tribe has long been accustomed to difficult survival in the high valley; it is their way.  Everything changes when Ktope the Hunter (M) returns from a scouting expedition.  Up ahead there is a valley where the trees grow all the way up to the sky, unlike the scraggly windblown twigs in the high altitudes.  Animals are plentiful, he claims, and there is much to eat.  Great beasts, like huge grazing cattle eighteen feet high, roam the river valley.

The tribe is on the verge of starvation and discipline may soon break down.  Ktope promises to lead the tribe to this Valley.  Bkesh sees this as a direct challenge to his leadership; in a land of plenty he will have less control over the people, less need for discipline.  Ktope may be seen as hero or savior for leading the Abequa into this paradise.

In a struggle to maintain control over the tribe, and to prevent its usurpation by Ktope, Bkesh makes an announcement.  "There shall be a feast tonight," he tells his people.  "We shall go on a great hunt.  Let us go prepare!  For this hunt shall be an important test of our hunters.  He who brings back the biggest animal shall be blessed and may have Jebba the Healer as his mate!"

Ktope sees Bkesh trying to solidify his political position, and doesn't allow himself to agree.  "These beasts are gigantic," he warns.  "Any wise hunter knows that you must first study the habits of your game.  You do not slaughter them; you cull the weak and the sick, you learn their ways.  We must be cautious, for this valley may contain great danger!"

What The Players Decided

They didn't like the sound of Bkesh, spotting him right off as an overbearing, dictatorial, controlling, bloodthirsty braggart.  Under Bkesh the cavemen might easily depopulate the valley — one huaca literally had more meat on it than the tribe could eat before it spoiled, and Bkesh was proposing a wasteful killing competition.  Not that they were pleased with Ktope, under whose guidance and pathological caution the old ways of starvation, conservation, and discipline would probably continue.

Wasn't there a middle ground? they wondered.  And can't we do something about Jebba?

Solving both problems at once seemed like a natural to them, considering how much they were probably still stinging from the mistake of overly de-emphasizing religion in Year Zero.  But before they arrived at that solution, they marched straight to the weaselly middle ground between the two viewpoints and set up camp* there.

"Can we teach them to preserve the meat?" asked Joe the Leader.

What with? I asked.  The Great Valley is warm and dry; it gets almost no rainfall.  The only water comes from fog, and from a massive river running through the valley.  If they remained in the mountains they could use ice, or deep cold caves.

"What about salt?" he asked.

They're nowhere near the sea, so they can't set up evaporation pans, I pointed out.  And unless you're going to get a starving tribe to mine for salt...

Salt preservation was out.  How about magic? you ask.  Well you may ask, but as I recall, it never occurred to the players to ask.  It never came up, just as they didn't ask about curing meats with smoke.  Perhaps magic was on their minds, because they started to dwell on poor second-class Jebba the Healer, medicine woman and also apparently chattel to be given away to the mightiest warrior.

"Did Bkesh say that the contest was only between himself and Ktope?" asked Dave craftily.  "Could we make someone else the leader?  Is there a toolmaker, for instance?"

There was a toolmaker for the tribe, I admitted.  He hadn't been central to the political power struggle between Bkesh and Ktope, so I hadn't invented him specifically, nor given him a name, but I assumed there must have been one.

"Now, do I still remember how to make a cage from the last time?" Dave the Artisan asked, referring to the animals they had trapped for the Drim in Year 30K. 

Sure, I said.

"Okay, so what we do is this," Dave said, and explained the plan.  They would hold the hunting competition for all the tribe, with one twist:  they had to capture a huaca alive.  The winner would be leader and, to change the terms of the competition somewhat, could chose for a mate anyone in the tribe.

It's a deal, said the tribe.  They were eager for the hunt and for the feast to follow.

Unknown to the tribe, the Players had already gone out to find a huaca and had fenced it in between some trees.  They waited for the hunt to begin, passing the time by casting Beast Soother on their captured beast.  Eventually, Dave returned with Jebba in tow.  They taught her the Beast-Soother spell and told her it had all been arranged.  Jebba would return with her animal and she'd be named leader.  That's when the Players hit the first snag in their plan:  they'd never asked Jebba if she wanted to be leader.

"I'm just a medicine woman," she said.  "I'm not important enough to be leader."

"But," said Joe the Leader, "but ... you have to.  It's for the good of the tribe.  Only you can bring back this animal alive.  If you don't, there will be no feast."

"Well, okay," she said reluctantly.  "If I must.  But I won't be very good at it."

Result

They brought Jebba and the huaca back in triumph.  Jebba was named leader and had her choice of mates.  The Eagle Clan of Abequa had their feast, and the rights of mage-born children had been restored.

That's when the Players realized the second snag in their grand plan.  They'd also never asked Jebba whether she preferred either Bkesh or Ktope's plans.  They'd just rigged a contest to install as leader a woman they knew nothing about...

*During that round it was only a camp.  By now, of course, Dave the Artisan owns five-star accommodations, by reservation, operating under the name Weaselly Middle Ground LLC.