58 Black Blood

Many Weeks Later :

"Chieften Jubba! We have a problem!" a young man exclaims, quickly entering the hut to address his leader.

The large man raises a brow at the sudden intrusion and places the mutton chop he had been eating back into the Tomnal pot. "It must be if you would risk interrupting my meal... What is it?" Jubba asks.

"W-we don't know! An illness has stricken the village, some elders and infants have already succumb to it, but we cannot find the source of it... It is as if we have been cursed!" he rapidly explains, the dire situation needing prompt action.

Jubba scowls, "You checked? There was no dead creature rotting further upstream?"

"We checked!"

"No tainted or poisoned food?"

"None that we can find!"

"Just what kind of illness is this anyway?!" Jubba asks, wondering what could have caused this if the usual suspects had already been checked off.

"It is nothing we have seen before... First the afflicted vomit the contents of their stomach, eventually spitting large amounts of blood. Their eyes bleed, and their veins turn black... We cut open one of the many dead, and found that their insides had... All but liquified!" they list off the various effects, but this provides no solace to Jubba.

Jubba had lived through many outbreaks before, but none sounded so... Vile. Numerous pox killed a few occasionally, infected wounds more so... But he'd never heard of something that literally liquified one's insides. The fat man struggles to get to his feet before waving his hand, "Show me to them, we must find whatever is causing this and put an end to it!"

The young man nods and leads his leader out, towards the isolated huts that contained the afflicted.

Unbeknownst to them, the cause of the illness had already spread far and wide throughout the tribes, having been trading through their village from the Gutizia. All over the region there were sightings and reports of similar symptoms, but people could not figure out where it was coming from...

Elsewhere :

It's been a few weeks since he'd infiltrated the Gutizia tribe and planted the tainted salts, everything had been pretty great all things considered. The Sua'jiki salt mine had finally put into operation, though, Luca supposed it couldn't really be called a mine as all you needed to do was walk inside, scoop up some salt and the job was done.

It was actually quite peculiar to see what amounted to granulated salt being distributed through a primitive village. Luca himself had been using his own stolen salt to full effect, drying meats, creating jerky and other preserved meats.

He'd spend these few weeks hunting, training, and spending time with Sarr'ina. Sarr'vuln seemed to have become more 'accepting' of their... Whatever their relationship was ever since Luca had discovered the salt deposit.

Though, it was still awkward for him to act intimate with her. It wasn't due to inexperience however, or, not in the way one would usually expect. Luca had never been in a relationship where he'd actually held affection for the other person. Sure, he'd lusted after a few girls, but he'd never held an emotional connection to someone like this before...

He was interrupted out of his contemplation when someone knocked on the wood composing his hut. "Lu'ka? The chief wishes to speak with you."

Luca raises a brow at this, he had no idea what this could be... There was a twinge of fear that Sarr'vuln might have discovered his sabotage of the Gutizia, but that lessened when he realised that any proof would have been found weeks ago.

He enters Sarr'vulns hut and spots many veteran hunters all sitting around in a circle, Sarr'ina was also there, sitting at the base of Sarr'vulns chair and looking towards Luca affectionately.

"Ah, you are here... Sit." Sarr'vuln states, gesturing over beside Sarr'ina.

Luca nods and does as he's told, sitting cross-legged next to Sarr'ina, and smiling as she lays a hand over his own. He's about to ask her what this is all about, but Sarr'vuln had already begun addressing everyone.

"I have received messages from many tribes asking about our status... A disease has somehow sprung up in almost every tribe, one that causes debilitating vomiting, weakness, and eventually... Death. I have called you all here to ask, have any of you observed an illness similar to this?"

All the hunters shake their heads, and Sar'vuln continues, "Then it seems we have been spared from it... Though... I suspect that this illness is not natural. We have sent many traders to the Olmnar tribe, yet none have returned with this plague, the same cannot be said for other tribes, which means we either possess something they do not, or nature itself is guarding us against this threat."

Luca had already figured out what'd happened... Apparently, his sabotage was working far better than he'd expected. He'd thought that the Gutizia tribe would sell the tainted salt to one tribe in bulk, but this had obviously not happened... Instead, bits and pieces had been distributed all over.

As to how he felt about indirectly causing the deaths of many innocent people? In all honesty, he didn't feel anything. They were foreign entities, people who sided with the Gutizia when the Sua'jiki had been restricted from purchasing salt. Luca would gladly trade ten thousand foreign lives for one Sua'jiki.

Deciding it would better for someone else to figure out the cause, Luca elects to push them in the right direction. "Could it be poison? I know a few mushrooms that could have such an effect, though, they would have to be taken in very large doses." he says, the others slowly nodding.

Sarr'vuln shakes his head however, "That would not explain how we would have avoided it... Mushrooms are not spread evenly through the forest, it would be very unlikely that all tribes aside from ourselves would be afflicted from this.

"What tribes haven't had any afflicted?" Luca asks, knowing the Gutizia wouldn't have traded the tainted salt if they knew what it was.

Sarr'vuln crosses his arms, "From what I know, the Barenki, Dlantan, Pinskual, and Gutizia tribes have also been spared."

Luca raises a brow, "I haven't heard of any of those, aside from the Gutizia."

Sarr'vuln nods, "That is because they are too far away to affect the Sua'jiki in any important way..." he explains.

"Huh... Does this not mean that everyone who is able to trade with the Gutizia has been infected?" Gil'ga asks, piecing two and two together. "We do not use their salt, and the other tribes you mentioned are too far to trade with them... If this truly is poison, then it would make sense that the Gutizia would not be affected."

A few hunters around the room growl under their breaths, it was now pretty apparent how was the cause of this. Some were actually sending grateful looks at Luca himself, as if he hadn't caused the tribe to become blacklisted they would have likely been poisoned as well.

Sarr'vuln scratches his face, "I do not know if Gaiztoak would really do this... I know his personality is... Unlike his father's. For now, I will send some messengers to discretely relay what we may have discovered... If it is the truth, then once they check their salt it should be revealed."

With that done, everyone gets to their feet and leaves. Luca walks out with Sarr'ina holding his hand, but he felt that when she looked at him she knew something was up... He couldn't fault her though, it wouldn't be the first time he'd secretly began poisoning their enemy. Hopefully no one else would start asking questions, otherwise he might find himself in a very difficult position.