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It goes like this...
Following some unpleasant winters, three Neanderthal brothers' parents
were forced to leave their firstborn, Ours, with a gang of friendly
Cro-Magnons because someone may have been after them. They settled
in the Wolf Tribe with their two other sons, Hashganawe and
the youngest, Vashginawe, but were killed by unknown hands before
they could retrieve him.
He was raised by the Cro-Magnons until his early adulthood, when the tribe was wiped out mysteriously. Finding them dead when he returned from a hunting trip, he took to traveling, looking for his real family, becoming an apprentice shaman in the process. Eventually, he found his two brothers. By then, having grown up without their parents for most of their lives, the somewhat badly adapted Hashganawe had become a bad-toothed hunter and Vashginawe, calling himself "Gub", was a lazy storyteller. Ours' goal thus became to reunite his family and keep his brothers out of trouble. Previously... When Sheba came to the tribe, she shook things up, and not just with her mad dancing around the fire. All three brothers found her interesting though it would be Gub who would mate with her more actively. Not that it was all fun and games! Gub had to deal with a rather nasty scavenger by the name of Couleuvre Glissante, and Ours had to contend with the racist hunter Oroch-Ta. And what of shaman Daak, who had learned his magicks with the Cro-Magnons and knew their parents and seemed to be hiding something? It sometimes seemed like their only friends were Chief Arag-Sa, who was a friend of their parents, and the young cub who had not yet earned his name, who wanted to become apprentice to Ours.. They were never able to prove that Daak was behind the theft of game by hunters with yellow feathers in their hair, and when the supplies ran too low, the brothers went (not all voluntarily) to a nearby tribe to trade for some. After proofs of strength, they had the stuff, including a stone knife with a strange rune. This clue led the brothers on a quest to find its owner, a rogue hunter who may have stolen a fire-giving stone of great value. But before they follow up on it, the tribe that helped them, now attacks the village because they've fallen victim to a disease (or curse) from something traded to them. The town is defended, and in the process, Gub makes friends with one of Couleuvre Glissante's men, sympathetic Org la Fronde. Now following their leads, they travel to various villages, all the while disturbed by dreams of wolves come to revenge themselves on the owners of weapons used to kill the ill tribesmen. Bringing back the fire-stone allows the brothers to get in good with their tribe. On this trip they meet Lupita, a lone female Ours wants to bring back, but she gets away. Hashganawe seems interested in her, but he kinda smells, you know? Back home, Gub decides he'll go to a neibouring tribe soon to participate in great storytelling, and then there's another theft of game. Ours goes out to catch the thieves and he stumbles and isn't able to help. Deep questions as to the effects of this first Shift are explored, but no answers come up. Investigations into the thefts turn up nothing even with the help of a witch woman Ours knows. When confronted by Couleuvre Glissante at the storytelling, Gub is unfazed, but still gets his ass kicked by mystery raconteur Lupita. The game will end badly when a rockslide falls on the audience, injuring Sheba and Daak, who pulls through more easily. The brothers visit Sheba's cave and again mystified by a Shift, they try to collect their wits before they are sent on an expedition into a canyon to hunt the great deer for Solstice. On the way, they find a clue to the identity of the game thieves - a yellow feather next to a colored feather Daak often wears...? The brothers come across an injured giant elk that attacks them, which they manage to wound before it runs away. Tracking leads them to a cave where a cave lion is cornered and killed, as per a bargain with the spirits of the land. As they come out of the canyon with the lion's meat, they see lightning hit the already sick village that had attacked them befor, way in the distance, and seem to destroy it completely. SHIFT> Recently... Upon their return, a feast is held and ceremonial reenactement of the hunt, but wolves attack, and Daak claims the spirits are unhappy with the Tribe and someone must journey to the sacred cave to make ammends. The brothers are sent since their hunt must have angered the spirits. They find the true culprits, Cro-Magnons who have mutilated a lioness. They also discover that they are working with Daak and are most probably the game thieves that have made their lives difficult. They avenge nature and make amends, but also confront Daak, who shows his hand by admiting he killed their parents, as well as hinting that he too, shifts. The confrontation turns violent as... SHIFT> |