The Folk of the Great Forest

[SWSF Eidolon]

  His name was Popopalla, a word derived from his general appearance and roughly meaning 'Ugly One'. He was tall for one of his people, but still nearly a full twigs length short of the stature of the renown fierce warrior they called "Teebo" who hailed from two tribes up stream.  His thick and particularly rare colored coat was blended shades of burgundy, brown and grey but naturally tan across his face.  His body was covered with blackened ceremonial markings- the closest thing to a written language his primitive species had yet evolved.  He carried a straight wooden staff of the sturdiest known variety, a native hickory, that gnarled at the top and in to which a clenched paw-sized green crystal was wedged.

  His cape was simple and of a brown rugged cloth and a small darker satchel was slung across his chest, but his head scarf was a patchwork of many colors- red, blue, green, purple, and bonded together by a uniform golden stitching, the silk of the two-tribes-folk or larger sized Tatanka-Spider that prowled the lower canopy of the Great Forest.  It glimmered by sunlight or by fire.  Few of the 'Ewoks' (folk) who encountered one lived to tell and none in the spoken-history of the Folk was known to slay one and take its marvelous product as a prize.  The previously unheard of feat was amplified by the circumstance of it, occuring in salvation of the powerful Chirpa Tribe's heir, Princess Kneesaa, and as told by her- "using his magical staff and crystal to entrance the beast before maiming it with his chiseled-sharp shale dagger! A true hero!", when her usual escorting guardians were caught up in that golden silk web.

  In the resulting pan-tribal gathering- she had gladly bestowed upon him a new name, Doewahnaka, 'Bravest Among Us'.

  He much preferred this new name.

  He was then declared Grand Shaman of the Confederated Tribes.  The many Chiefs' own seamstresses were put to immediate work crafting his glimmering golden-stitched scarf.  A feast was held in his honor during which a boar was roasted and a troop of young woklings performed a hastily organized and deeply embellished reenactment of the instant legend, starring a pint-sized version of the previously outcast novice shaman student as a great revered warlock and the strong, thinking and well-groomed Princess of the Chirpa Tribe.

  While it sounded grand indeed, there was no actual Confederation of Tribes in practice.  On an irregular occasion a number of chiefs may come together to resolve matters of intertribal concern, but there was no true entity, there existed only fragile constantly shifting alliances and grudges between the dozens of groups of Ewoks known to inhabit the Great Forest.

  This ruse was fine with him, because the story Kneesaa told was a bit of a ruse as well.  It was his shale blade that killed the Tatanka-Spider, but it was the Princess herself who wielded it, while he himself had cowered and frozen in fear as the huge spider itself was frozen in trance at the green glow of the crystal in his staff.

  But he was about to learn just how fragile those alliances and how deep those grudges could be..

TBC..

Still the number one threat? BEARS!

[SWSF Eidolon]

  It had been nearly one full cycle of the Big Night Star that cast it's waxing and waning night time glow across the Great Forest since the celebratory Renaming Feast in his honor.  It hung now as a sliver, giving little illumination and hardly visible through the foilage.  Doewahnaka sat tending a small warming fire that burned within the small central stone pit of his hut on the outskirts of his tribes tree-village.

  He belonged to the Teto tribe, their Chief- Teto, a synonym for any blunt-force weapon, governed as his name implied.  The Tatanka-Spider incident had put the Teto on much more friendly terms with the Chirpa than prior, and this shift in tribal politics caused great concern among the Obotto- who occupied a wide tract of land along the stream between the other two.  Their long standing dominance over the several adjacent tribes relied upon the weak relationships between them.

  Though he had just been ceremoniously elevated to a Grand Intertribal Shaman, he was no single tribes serving Shaman, and thereby had no entirely reliable allies.  To make matters more problematic, he now counted among his adversaries his own Tribes Shaman, Gorrogakak- who saw the previously inept student of magicks as an upstart and  a threat to his own standing among the Teto, as well as his Shamanic Peers in the numerous other tribal shaman of the Forest Folk.

  Thrust to prominence for the first time in his life, he pondered these changes and what might come next.  He rubbed his paws together over the fire, then stood and leaned his staff against it's usual resting niche of the simple wooden branch framed and thatch-walled hut.  Removing his cloak, his golden silk stitched headscarf and his satchel, he hung them together on some form of pronged animal horn that protruded from the wall near the leather-curtained doorway.  He reached within the latter and pulled out a small cloth pouch, then producing a small stonework bowl and mortar, he dumped in and ground up some type of dried organic or mineral at a small workbench before returning to his bedding furs by the living, dancing red, orange and yellow pile of warmth.

  Sitting on the floor with stubby legs crossed and pulling the furs around him, he gazed in to the small fire and performed a kind of ritual pattern of motions with his left paw- touching his forehead, heart and drawing shapes in the air, then tossed a pinch of the ground substance in to the flame.  They produced a marvelous show of pops, sizzles and whines in a rainbow of colored light and smoke, the fumes of which produced a sweet aroma in the local air and drifted upward out the open vent hole in his hut's roof.

  He repeated this several times intermittently over the succeeding many moments while concentrating upon the aesthetic display and practicing a rhythmic breathing pattern, attempting to enter a kind of focused spiritual state that he'd hoped would offer some clue or sign on what the following days may hold.

  The evening passed in to the depth of night and the small fires of the few dozen huts in Teto village slowly died out to embers as the inhabitants drifted off to sleep amidst the unblemished natural upper forest canopy and the symphonious night-time ambiance of a thousand other resting or nocturnal forest creatures- large and small..

TBC..

Still the number one threat? BEARS!

[SWSF Eidolon]

  ..Doewahnaka snapped awake as a hideous otherworldly screaming shriek in the distance but seeming here and now had pierced his ears.  It was still the night time across this part of the Great Forest, and the embers of his dying fire crackled casting naught a glow throughout his small hut.  The terrible sound seemed to be growing in intensity as he noticed the rest of the settlement bursting to an alarmed life as he grabbed and donned his cloak, scarf, satchel and clenched his staff and stepped out on to the plankways of Teto Village.

  Dozens of his fellow round and fuzzy denizens scurried about in all directions chattering loudly when a blazing orange glow began to appear on the distant canopy horizon.  The village Horn began sounding as the collective anxiety turned to a vigilant terror.  The burning glow and screaming shriek now practically upon them, sounding like some form of possessed and berserk flame as everyone seemed to then seek whatever immediate form of cover was to be had.

  The branches above raged and snapped as the thing passed directly over them, breathing a searing heat and flame and carrying the torrential winds and their debris with it as it passed, screeching along.  It burned as brightly as the day time star if it were only a centyearlings reach away.  Branches of all size tumbled, some taking chunks of the plankways and whatever rest upon them with it.  Thatch rooves seared, kindled or plainly burned.  Hut walls had been cast about, frames had toppled and the further elevated sections of Teto were simply gone.  A long stretch of the forest canopy that had previously been above them was simply sheared away like a long grooved canoe cut out of a single log.  Indiscernable until the ball of fire had past, a mocked pair of slow moving but high pitched winds seemed to follow from much further up.  It was all over in a matter of moments almost as quickly as it had manifest.  An uneasy moment of silence settled before the pre-passing commotion resumed in more frenzied manner.

  Doewahnaka had hardly noticed but a trio of small Woklings had huddled around him in that moment of dire shelter.  As they all rose and dusted themselves off taking stock of the Village, Doewah quickly checked them for harm and hurried them off to a pair of Mum-Woks who had worriedly ran to them.  One of them had thanked him with a clasp of one of his paws with hers before rushing off with her brood.

  He stopped for a moment looking at his paw.  The village was in frantic damage control, groups threw buckets of water on small fires, dug through piles of debris, hurled ropes to stranded compatriots and began a toll of the damage, search for the missing, and attempt to understand what had just occurred.

  Then, in the distance he heard a voice calling out to him.

  "PO-PO-PALLAAAA!"  "PO-PO-PALLLLAAA!" he heard.  He waited a moment and heard it again, then walked in the other direction from it's eminence, kneeling down to help the first distressed Wok he came to- a weathered and frail Old-Wok who was already blind whom he helped to his foot-paws again and offered him a calming leaf to chew while making sure he was alright, all things considered...

TBC...


Still the number one threat? BEARS!

[SWSF Eidolon]

 
    The new days rising sun began to cast a narrow line of orange across the distant horizon through kilometers of canopy from the elevated perspective of Teto village.  In the night it had seemed that the worst of the damage to the village was assessed and accounted, but daylight offered an even more grim perspective.  The dead or missing numbered in the dozens and a little more than a third of the entire village's structures and walkways had been cut away from the treescape.

    Doewahnaka worked with half a dozen other villagers in rigging a temporary rope bridge across one of several wide gaps in previously connected portions of the village walkways.

    Teto Shaman Gorrogakak worked with a team of folk across that same gap on the same temporary rope bridge.  He was careful to play the role of even directing Dowahnaka and his team from a far across the gap, calling aloud his old name, “Popopalla!”.

    Doewah continued to ignore the incessant provocation.  The fellow folk nearest him working on knotting lengths and  tensioning the makeshift bridge quietly shared his thoughts,

    “Gobah chekka teto dagga bofo.” (You should rock skull the fool)

    Doewah glanced at the other but thought a moment as he tied knots in the thick vine stranded ropes they worked with.

    "Choodoe nakka beh wafa.  Edak to palla moh ip ip.  Dochama." (His spirit is dark.  It crushes his head from within. Slowly)

    The other Ewok was amused with a short chuckle as he answered between laughs as they worked together.

    "Bwuhuh!  Teto Mochama!  Bwuhuh!"  (Rock is quicker)


    Chief Teto himself directed his warriors who had dispersed in groups of three or more to consolidate the large portions of debris.

    The Craftswok were at work patching up structures and walks that remained and the Caretakers were doing their best to accommodate and help the wounded and distraught.

    As the line of orange expanded to a blue sky in the early morning, bands of Ewoks (folk) from the respective upstream tribes Obotto and Chirpa signaled their arrival from the Great Forest floor below, each with a unique sounding blow of animal horn and verbal hooting..


  *BRRDA BRRDDAAA BRDDAAAA BRRRRRRRR!!!!*

  “WHOEY WHOEY WHOEY WHOEY WHOOOOO!!!”


  *BRRRDDDBRRRRRR BRRDDDBRRRRRRRR!!!*

  “WHO WHO WHO WHO WHO WHO WHOOOO!”


  At the beckoning from below, the reeling inhabitants of Teto Village above prepared their own welcome party for descent.


  Leading the Obotto band was a stubby and robust chode of an Ewok named Ribee with cream and gray colored fur and a brown head scarf.  He carried a long ash handled spear with a glimmering black stone head- the signature weapon of an Oboto warrior.  It was adorned with too many braided locks to count with a full woks digits (12).  Most of them were definitely of the greatly feared and often sought boar-wolf, the successful hunt of which could provide enough meat for village-wide feasts.  A handful of others were rumored to be of rival slain warriors.  He was accompanied by a quiet young scout and a pair of young warriors in training hardly wielding their own obsidian tipped pole arms upright.

  The Chirpa troop was headed by the renowned fierce warrior Teebo.  His coat was gray with black streaks running up his long body.  His numerous bone and feather trinkets complimenting his imposing skull headdress.  His weapon of choice was a powerful stone club.  He was accompanied by the Chirpa Shaman Logray and the equally renown scout Lumat who's arrow crafting was widely imitated, though never to the fine degree of the craftswok herself.

  They waited gathered together at the base of a thick ancient redwood as a trio of rope basket lifts with various shades of fur blobs wedged between the branch frames dropped down from the village above.

  As they hit the ground lightly Chief Teto stepped out along with the Teto Shaman Gorrogakak and a few guards and suppliers who carried leather sacks of collected rain water and carved wooden bowls of the regions berries.

  Chief Teto was average height for the Folk but of very muscular build.  He had a rich black coat that shined with luster and a heavy stone headed club hanging at his hip in the strap of a small satchel.  He approached hastily and declared the visiting bands of Forest Folk as Welcome,

  "Majugga hoeta benegah madawa Teto, hel Chirpa, hel Obotto!" he pronounced with a ritual waving of his three thick digit handpaw.

  The guards relaxed their stance and the suppliers stepped forward to offer the welcomed guests the customary refreshments, a courtesy common amongst all the Tribes of the Great Forest in times of peace.

  Chief Teto and Gorrogakak took council with Ribee of the Obotto and Logray and Teebo of the Chirpa while Lumat conferred with the Obotto Scout.


  "Huboobah, gamma kaa…. KOBASH! Togo keh bapop!  Mishi, mishi.. mah Boepoe takapa..  BOEPOE TAKAPA!!" Teto began describing the chaotic and confusing nights experience to his fellow folk.  As he described the destruction of his beloved village his voice broke and emotion gripped him.

  Gorrogakak awkwardly offered him a consoling pat and momentary grasp of encouragement,

  "Ohhhhh Tuk tuk, tuk tuk" he offered his tribal Chief while gesturing annoyingly in jest toward the visitors.

  Logray exchanged odd glances with Ribee while Teebo only stared at the Teto Shaman in assessment.


  The elder Chirpa Shaman spoke up,

  "Tooka bama gaka tupo rekka gishep.  Palla degga moocha pommo Chirpa dolak Kobash!" he began explaining to Teto and Gorro that he'd been ritually divining when the screeching fireball first appeared over Chirpa Village.

  "...koolow naba richi sabba defa yabet nagak! Domah Nagak!"

  And that he feared a demon had crossed over his spiritual bridge in to their realm. A dangerous demon.

  Gorrogakak and Teto reacted with growing alarm as Logray spoke.

  If this demon wrought such destruction upon entering their world, how much would it wreak if left to roam?


  Logray continued,

  "Booboo eepa kwanta desset.. wee mah tell sep." he explained that upon it’s chaotic passing, he immediately gathered their tribes best warrior and scout, Teebo and Lumat, and set out down stream following the path of the fireball demon.

  In passing through Obotto territory, they encountered Ribee and his band on the path toward the Teto swath, dispatched by Chief Obotto to investigate the same strange occurrence…

  “Woopa geh cha oowah Chomo, cha doe mubop Kobash..chokohroh..chokohroh..wee bah do, choo choo duma Kobash!  Wee mah koe duppa Teto.” he finished his summation, noting that the fireball demon had not descended low enough to scrape away swaths of their villages as it had the Teto, offering his seemingly sincere apologies and grave regrets for his perceived responsibility for the tragedy described above by Chief Teto.  Pledging with a raise and stern plant of his staff that he and the Chirpa and Obotto bands would right this wrong, slay the fireball demon, and welcoming a Teto party to join them.


  Chief Teto’s woe and fear was washed away.  Logray was one of the oldest and thus wisest known Folk still walking the Great Forest.  His staff came from the Great Spirit Tree, and his pledge was regarded as a deed done.

  “OOwah Sabba!! Wah Saba!!” (Our savior!, My savior!) Teto exclaimed as he grabbed the elder Logray for what could only be described as a diminutively massive bear hug.

  “Wah bo bebop chollo gabba do nah, weecha weecha moooo galla!” he beckoned them to come ascend to the village for proper provisioning before setting off on their Quest.

  Gorrogakak looked up and gestured to whomever was watching.  Another trio of the Teto Village Lift Baskets empty of any occupants dropped down from high above as the gathering of the furry Forest Folk piled in to the tribal mechanical contraptions and were hoisted up…

TBC


 Still the number one threat? BEARS!