59 The Maddening
Gaiztoak roars as he kicks a pot of salt over, causing it to shatter and spew the valuable mineral all over the floor. "What do you MEAN!?" he shouts, jabbing a finger at the messenger who'd just had to deliver the grave news.
"T-the tribes! They think that the illness was caused by our salt!" the man timidly gets out, wincing back slightly as if he'd already been hit.
"IMPOSSIBLE! OUR SALT CAN NOT DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Gaiztoak screams, absolutely furious that something like this was occurring. He marches out of his hut and towards the center of the village.
The rest of the Gutizia tribesman follow, expecting their leader to have something to say about the recent events. Once Gaiztoak reaches his destination he climbs atop a large stump and looks down at the gathered people. "GUTIZIA! YOU WILL ANSWER ME TRUTHFULLY, AND AS BEST YOU CAN MANAGE!... WHO KNOWS ANYWAY ABOUT THIS... 'TAINTED' SALT WE SUPPOSEDLY TRADED!?!"
...
"SPEAK! OR I WILL BEGIN PUNISHING THOSE I DESERVING OF IT!!" He roars upon not receiving an answer.
"Chief! We don't know! We have never caught an illness from eating salt... It must be a curse from the jealous tribes!" a skinny-looking man says, but almost no one believes this at all.
Gaiztoak spits a large globule of phlegm and saliva at the man to show his anger, "YOU!..." he looks to some of the stronger men of the tribe, "TIE HIM UP! WE WILL FEED HIM SALT FROM THE MINE UNTIL WE FIND THE TAINTED SALT. IF THERE IS NONE HE WILL BE FREED." he states, the skinny man quickly beginning to panic at the sudden change in situation.
"NO! PLEASE!-GUUHKK!" he's silenced as blows rain down upon him, striking his face, stomach, and chest. Once he's incapacitated he'd tied to a large wooden pole in the middle of the village.
The tribe upon seeing this becomes much, much less eager to air what they think may have happened. Who knew what else Gaiztoak would do to appease his anger... Unfortunately, the young chieftain won't allow them to stay silent for much longer.
"WELL? SPEAK!" he shouts, only seeming to get angrier, drawing his copper blade and pointing at some people who he had prior disagreements with.
"Uh-uh... IT was the other tribes! They are lying to try and control us!" a very, very sweaty tribesman says after Gaiztoak points his sword at him.
Gaiztoak seems to mull this over, having not initially thought of it. Though, he shakes his head regardless, there were simply too many reports of the illness for it to be fake. Unless all their allied tribes had suddenly decided to ally together and destroy the Gutizia. "Not likely! WHAT ELSE?" he loudly address the same man who looks as if he's about to shit his leathers.
"S-S-SABOTAGE! ANOTHER TRIBE POISONED OUR SALT!?" He replies, praying to nature as a whole to save him from a bad fate.
...
"THAT'S IT!" Gaiztoak suddenly shouts, deciding that blaming it on sabotage would be the best way forwards, regardless if it was true or not. If he said it was sabotage then the tribes might turn their ire to each other, giving the Gutizia some room to breathe and formulate a proper plan in case something more malicious was happening.
"Our salt as been poisoned by another tribe! It is obvious to me now! GO, tell the other tribes of our plight, and warn them of further sabotage from their neighbours!" he says, gesturing at the messenger.
"Y-yes!" he shouts and quickly begins preparing for another journey.
Gaiztoak turns and points his blade at the man who he'd been interrogating. "You!"
The man who thought he might get off without injuries gets a cold sweat, eventually squeaking out a "Yes Chief!?"
"What is your name?"
"J-Julnker!" he quickly replies, hoping these words wouldn't be his last.
"You will come with me, we have much more to discuss." Gaiztoak states, deciding to make this man his advisor for now. He'd not taken most of his duties as chief seriously until now, nor had he needed to. Now however he might need competent people to help him sort this new disaster out.
Julnker nods and follows his chieftain, cold sweat still dripping down his back as he walks.
A couple weeks later :
The situation between the tribes had been continually getting tenser. The sudden illness caused by the Gutizia salt had weakened most of them, which caused each tribe to become more reflexive in their actions.
An example of this is trespassing in someone's territory. Previously, should someone find you hunting or simply gathering in their territory, you'd at worst receive light to moderate punishment. But now? There had been some people killed on sight, simply because the tribesman thought that they might be under attack.
Things only got worse when Gaiztoak said that their salt had been sabotaged and that someone was wishing to destroy the 'good' relations the Gutizia had with the rest of the region... Luca was honestly surprised they'd managed to figure it out so fast, but knew there wasn't really any way for the Gutizia to point a finger at the Sua'jiki... Until now.
The Sua'jiki had recently started selling salt in the Olmnar tribe, a big surprise to everyone who hadn't had their head in the ground for the past few years. A few tribes sent scouts to find their source, but the Sua'jiki easily fended them off with the threat of immediate death.
If they were simply protecting a flock of sheep, such a reaction would be seen as disreputable to the other tribes, but since it concerned salt, the white gold. It was understandable. As of now, no one knew where the Sua'jiki was harvesting their salt, something that enraged the Gutizia to a great extent.
Gaiztoak immediately started threatening the Olmnar to cease allowing the Sua'jiki to trade salt, but he was laughed off like a dumb child.
"The only thing your tribe trades is salt, I can see why you are scared of the Sua'jiki's recent prosperity. I advise you to lower your prices, or find another resource to trade." was his 'advise', something that almost caused Gaiztoak to lose his temper and attack the man for.
In retaliation, he started declaring to anyone that would listen that the Sua'jiki are the ones responsible for the tainted salt. Something that most brushed off as the ravings of a mad man. The Sua'jiki's reputation was a sparkling jewel amongst the region, and none would dare question their honour and integrity by believing such accusations.
Indeed, the Sua'jiki was quickly becoming one of the richest tribes around. Their salt didn't come along with the prideful glares, and overpriced nonsense that the Gutizia's did. Nor were they worried about being poisoned while eating it.
Gaiztoak's attitude had caused almost all of his allies to stray away, his increasingly psychotic accusations towards the Sua'jiki making some worried that yet another war was coming.
The only thing actually keeping the tribe barely together, was Gaiztoak's new advisor Julnker. The former miner had managed to stop Gaiztoak from threatening their remaining allies, and worsening their situation further... Though, the young chieftain had turned his anger inwards, having tribesman who'd committed minor crimes to literally fight to the death as entertainment...
