Politics are boring!

It was mid-day and Luca had just come back from another hunt when he spots a commotion near the outskirts of the village. Getting close to observe whatever was happening he spots one of the Tribesman covered in blood and loudly pleading with some of the other hunters that were present.

"Please! They killed my son and took my wife! Find her please!" he begs them and even slaps away their efforts to try and tend to the numerous wounds covering him. Luca can tell from past experience that they are most likely from an animal, he'd bet that the Karaskir and their damn Wolf pets are the perpetrators. However, he decides to continue to watch from a distance as getting involved may be seen as him volunteering himself.

Eventually Sarr'vuln and Sarr'ina make their way to the man, the latter immediately applying herbs and wrapping his wounds with large leaves.

Sarr'vuln look down at the man with a gentle expression, despite his eyes looking similar to those rabid wolves, blood shot and darting around for someone to grab a hold of. "Calm down, I have heard about what happened... You say you were going to trade with the Giffrea?"

The man nods, "My wife wished to see the new tools they had made in the other village and trade for some... On our way back we were attacked by someone!"

Sarr'vuln growls, "Who was it? Did they have any animals with them?" he mutters, clearly suspecting the same people as Luca.

He shakes his head, "N-no! I-I don't really know what happened but my son was heavily injured and my wife was gone, they came back for him and I tried to fight them off but I was.."

Sarr'ina brings pushes a small bowl into the man's hands "Calm yourself and drink this." she says kindly, though her voice is strained with worry.

Sarr'vuln looks around angrily and gestures for the hunters, "Well? Go! Find them!" he shouts, causing them all to rush off to grab their weapons and leave.

Luca shakes his head, while he feels sorry for the man, it wasn't enough to risk himself... Even if he couldn't die it hurt a damn lot, let's not mention the strange things that'd happen if people found out about his peculiar "condition".

The next few days were tense, not only were the Karaskir getting bolder since they hadn't had any casualties lately but there was clearly a third party taking advantage of the conflict, not a trace of the unlucky man's family being found. Luca had heard much about the surrounding tribes but didn't have any personal experience... All he knew was that other tribes were also missing people, even if they were peaceful and not fighting with anyone. Most drew this up to the Ruler of the Forest but with it's death they now knew something else was up.

Rumour had it that the Gutizia Tribe had something to do with it as their leader Giaztuk had died and his mantle had been taken by his son Gaiztoak, those that knew the boy had said he was spoiled by his father due to his privileged position and was incredibly arrogant and narcissistic, the the extent that a few thought that he killed his father for the position. The Gutizia Tribe was very wealthy after all, them being the only source around for a huge distance to get salt.

Everyone needed salt, it flavoured food, preserved meat, tan hide, was useful for pottery and could even be used to make soap, though this was usually exclusive for Tribe Leaders wives who wished to indulge or increase their status among their peers. Due to this the Gutizia was easily one of the more powerful clans, next to the Olmnar who mostly controlled the Great river, atleast until it splits into two and running into the Tomnal control.

Truthfully the reverence for salt was a bit jarring for Luca who used to always have access to it and thought of it as a throw away thing used for cooking.

Luca also found it fascinating how the Tribes had split off from eachother and specialised in specific things to the region. For example the Olmnar produced a huge amount of fish that they traded for other things. The Karaskir had used to be the biggest producer of pelts, game meat and other similar products, though most Tribes had stopped trading with them after their aggression towards the Sua'jiki, a Tribe renown for it's fairness and respect for nature.

Obviously for the Sua'jiki they traded wool with the the other Tribes and had used to provide spiritual guidance to those who wished for it, however this was stopped when Sarr'ina's mother passed away as the other Tribes weren't familiar with her and Sarr'vuln was very wary about sending her out.

Luca was also curious with what else was around these lands, all he'd seen were the Tribes but was it possible that other societies were around? He'd heard of "Foreigners" wearing some "Mystical" fabrics coming to visit and trade for specific things, the most prominent being information about minerals and other things. Maybe these "Foreigners" were his ticket back to England?

...

However, as always, if things seem to be going well it's because you don't know what's happening. Not long after the commotion with the man who'd lost his family to unknown attackers Luca was yet again drafted to fight against the Karaskir who'd broached a little too close to their territory for Sarr'vuln's comfort.

Cuth'lu had been waiting inside his huts entrance with his arms crossed as Luca finally woke up, "You will have to fight again, get ready, we leave now." he states as he walks out.

Luca rubs his face and curses his undying life and slowly gets up, throwing his bear pelt over his patchwork leather clothes and grabbing his worn looking spear along with a few pouches that he may need... He also made sure to take the bag full of white powder, deciding if shit hits the fan maybe becoming a junkie isn't all that bad? Especially if he could just kill himself and "Reset" his body, or however else it functioned.

Walking outside he spots Le'du and the other teens that he'd previously fought with already there, with him being the last one. Not many words were said before Cuth'lu started heading into the forest, Luca makes small talk with Le'du but the conversation doesn't go anywhere. He isn't involved with the politics of the tribe and only had a few acquaintances he occasionally spoke to, truth be told he barely remembered anyone's name in this place, which wasn't much different from before as he'd never really cared about those he couldn't get something from.

Regardin their task Cuth'lu stated it was just another ambush to try and push out the Karaskir again, Luca didn't know why but he felt that trying the same tactic twice was likely to result in some unfortunate situation... Though that was logical, it was probably reverse psychology? If the Karaskir suspected a different kind of attack and they did the same thing as before maybe they'd be caught off guard? Luca shakes his head, that just sounded like wishful thinking... Hopefully he wouldn't die today though.