A small village located along the southern coast of Ebira. The people of this village belong to the Cyan Tribe. They make their livings by fishing along the coastal waters, and by hunting and gathering for resources in the Mangrove Mazes to the north, where they also have access to salt deposited by the leaves of the Mangrove tree - which they use to preserve their foodstuffs.

The Cyan Tribe - as well as a number of the other tribes of color - have a rare profession amongst their people called Pearl Divers. These individuals are adept at diving deep into the Chromatic Reef, where rare treasures can be found.

Tybe is a small village of about 200 people. It has been around for just about several decades.

Recently, invaders from the far north (beyond the Southern Wetlands entirely) have made first contact with the Tribes of Color, by wading through the impenetrable Mangrove Mazes. However, this terrain proved to difficult for them to navigate as they were - so they began using boats to send their armed bullies - demanding ridiculous things like taxes and slaves, resorting to just outright stealing cultural artifacts and kidnapping people when negotiations fall through.

---

Few had the will to resist the Megnamatans. They had superior weaponry, and were trained for violence. Ahirom Fugilin was different, though.
Ahirom Fugilin was young, only in his early twenties. However, he had over a decade of experience as a successful fisherman, Pearl Diver and even as a diplomatic merchant.

When he was young, Ahirom Fugilin would go fishing with his father. However, he always had very sharp eyes - and after once falling off his boat, he was able to peer into the depths and find his first pearl. It was a Yellow Pearl belonging to a Yellow-Tongue Clam. A rare find in these waters. Since that day, he began to train his breath-holding ability and his swimming skills.

By the age of 20, he was already an exceptional Pearl Diver who had collected many treasures. His skin is semipermanently stained Cyan due to diving in the regional waters of the Cyan Tribe.

He also found another knack of his: Diplomacy. Specifically, Ahirom is a very friendly and reasonable person. He knows when to be generous, without being a pushover. He had a whole slough of treasures to use as bargaining or gifts - and Ahirom is singlehandedly responsible for drastically increasing the good will between Tybe and its Yellow-Tribe neighbors. The eldest fisherman in the Yellow Tribe still treasures Ahirom's first catch, that Yellow Pearl that fatefully started his whole career.

Therefore, Ahirom was in an unique position to resist when the Megamatan invaders began to pillage and oppress these lands!
Ahirom - as well as a dozen other men and their families - have in the recent months left their villages and begun to live as a flotilla along the Chromatic Reef. They have slowly begun to sail east, in order to get closer to the place where the Megamatans are launching their invasions.

Together, Ahirom and his men learned to use their hunting weapons (mostly spears but rarely harpoons of animal bones) to counter the bows and copper weapons of the Megamatans. Among their small resistance, there has only been one casualty. A young man who got unlucky with the current his boat got stuck in, and was unable to avoid line of sight as he got pelted by two arrows from the Megamatans.

For their part, Ahirom's resistance group has managed to take over a dozen lives from the enemies. It was a drastic change from their peaceful lifestyles, and Ahirom still remembers the gruesome feeling and subsequent shivers and sickness that overtook him when he took his first life. He had sunk the enemy's raft with a well-aimed harpoon shot. The man had desperately tried to claw his way out, but he got tangled in the roots of the mangrove deltas and drowned in terror and misery.

He has personally taken two lives since then. Both times, the Megamatans had been sunk but managed to swim over to his flotilla. One of them, he had speared their hands until someone else dove under to mercifully finish them off. The other, he had pierced the neck while he had grasped at the edge of the boat. He felt least bad about that one, but it was still deeply upsetting.

Still, Ahirom was resolute - as were all his men, who had also taken lives or been complicit in the taking of them. They were determined to defend their homes, and they would not return to their villages until the invasion was over.

---

However, not all of their time was spent on sea. Even though fishing made up most of their diet, there was a mental need to spend some time on solid (if not necessarily dry) land.

Thus, Ahirom finds himself in a local Yellow Tribe village. The place is called Nusen. It had about 90 people, but that number has shrunk to just 60 since it has been a rampant target for kidnappings.

Ahirom and his men are hear to rest for one day, and to restock with other supplies they may need.
Their presence serves another purpose. They are trying to recruit.
The original group was 8 - minus the man who had died, Ronogem Uritis. He had been the youngest of them, just 15. He had been a good friend to several of Ahirom's crew, though Ahirom had not known him in the before times.
Now, they were 11. They had already recruited 3 new members.

The most unexpected part of Ronogem's death was his family's reaction. A partner (they had been just fourteen days to officially marriage before they had left their village for the flotilla) and the woman's two younger siblings - who Ronogem considered his own children.

They had not decided to return to the villages. Instead, they had become fighters in the own right - the young widow was filled with hatred and a desire for vengeance against those who had pierce Ronogem's neck and heart. She doesn't know their faces - as she had not been a warrior back then.

The two children are also reaching adolescence. They are eager to enter the battlefield to protect their big sister and avenge their 'Uncle Ronogem'. Ahirom sometimes wonders if they are doing the right thing by training these children, even if they will reach adulthood in a few years.

Still, Ahirom is committed to this path. Violent resistance.

Ahirom peeks at the sky through the somewhat dense canopy. Midday. They will be leaving for their flotilla, soon.

Is there anything in particular Ahirom wishes to do in the next hours before he and his crew return to their docked flotilla? Does he wish to visit the leader of Nusen, find his men and share a meal, or perhaps check on the recruitment efforts?

Ahirom gazed across Nusen. While he was not of this village, he had visited it many times. That was unusual of his people. Most kept to their own village. To travel to another village required trust difficult to obtain. The precise location of each village was difficult to discern in the thick foliages of the Mangrove maze. It was to keep them all safe, from outsiders, from each other. While warfare was not common, it was also not unheard of. But without knowing where the enemy laid their head at night, one could only inflict so much damage. This limited conflict over land and the resources thereof; the sea held endless bounty and was shared by all. So, the sources of conflict between the villages usually were that of honor.

As he passed through the village he saw something, a lack of something, rows of empty huts. That was something unfamiliar to him. Entire households vanished at sea. At times, a forceful taking of a spouse at sea happened, but it did not depopulate villages as the men of metal had. If it had merely been a war of honor, he would not have travelled here; he would not have brought other outsiders from Tybe into Nusen, but this was becoming more than a war of honor, rather a war of survival.


Though the threat was intimately known to Nusen, he had not yet spoken to the elder-most among them for an endorsement of their war. It was on the top of his priority list. He made his way to the largest of the huts at the center of the village and entered. He knew the elder for several years and had cultivated a good relationship with him. Together with already having the enthusiasm of some of the remaining villagers, Ahirom felt emboldened in the conversation. He bowed and bared his forearms to the elder before launching into his semi-prepared speech,
"Honored Elder of Nusen, I have lived in a time of peace, a time ushered by wise actions of you and my forbearers. Until today, I have never known war as the bonds between our people have been strong. And they remain strong. For the war we see now is not between your people and mine, nor between my people and another people of the reef, but between all people of the reef and the men from beyond."

These men are not men of the reef nor even of the sea. They are like the alligator, their teeth sharp, their hide thick, and live in the shallows. I've seen them myself stumbling as their boat floats on the waves, as our children do on their first journey to the reef.  Just as the alligator, their arrogance and belligerence hides their weakness. Just as an alligator, cunning overcomes their adversity. Just as an alligator, these men can be hunted."


Ahi pulled a copper knife from his clothes and showed it to the elder as evidence -- as a gift,

"I pulled this from their wrecked raft. One of five that we have wrecked. Five rafts that steal our people, our fish, our way of life have now become one with the reef. For our success we paid with a single life. That of young Ronogem Uritis. I mourn him now, his partner and the young mourn him, but without his sacrifice I ask myself, would he now be mourning them?  Even a single of their rafts could have taken many of the young, many loved ones.

You know me. I do not sit in water*. I am not a shark, always hungering for a bloodmeal. I come to you seeking not a war to turn your waters red with blood. I come to you to call a war, but not a war of honor, nor a war of blood sport, but a war of the unforgiving sea. Just as our fishers who venture far may never return, we must show these men of metal that the Chromatic Reef is as inhospitable as the open ocean. No more shall their men return with our people in bindings, our fish in their vessels, but nor shall they hear tales from damaged boats returning home of the dangerous people of the reef. Rather, they shall hear nothing but the waves along the shore.

So I ask of you to call for a war; I need more rafts and more warriors. We will travel far to the east, to the edge of the mazes and hunt the metal men before they can hunt the people in our villages. Even if we fail, we will give you time to prepare for more raids. Whether the villages relearn the ways of war, or ply deeper into the mazes further from the open reef and more secluded from the sea and each other. To prepare for a grander war or to seek a future without."





*'Sit in water' is a phrase meaning trying to cultivate a good reputation without actually taking action. It comes from people who literally sit in the colored waters to dye their skin rather than working in the water (diving, fishing, etc)

The Elder of Nusen listened to the speech of Ahirom Fugilin.

He was moved by the insightful words of the traveller-turned-admiral. For a while, The Elder of Nusen remembered just years earlier, when his people had lived peacefully; not beset by these terrible invaders.

As Ahirom's words continued, the Elder found his old blood pumping furiously. Was it true? Were these men really so clumsy on the sea? Had he and his people suffered so much due to being shocked into fear by the weight of their arms?

The Elder of Nusen is reminded of the Tricolor Reefsnake. The pathetic serpent has no poison, yet it invokes apprehension in even wizened hunters, due to sharing the same coloration as the Tenbreath Viper, which is as fatally poisonous as it's name suggests.

Yet, the Elder of Nusen still felt there would be great dangers in their resistance. These men were indeed foreigners, they had no honor to share with the Tribes of his people. If they could no longer use threats and violence to extract resources from these one-plentiful lands, they would surely have no qualms in killing them all, down to the last...

Despite this, the Elder felt that it could not continue like this. Even if the damages would be greater, it is better to be free. Perhaps it made him a bad leader, but the Elder of Nusen believed that as long as it wasn't abject suicide - reducing casualties of his own was not the most important thing.

Maybe the Elder came to this conclusion through biases of his own. After all, he was old - having little life left. He had no loved ones who could be taken from him. Most of all, he had been a great hunter in his youth. It was against his nature to sit around and take it like this.

So, the Elder spoke, giving his blessings to Ahirom's plans

"Your words have cleared my mind, young Ahirom. I remember the last time you visited our Nusen, you were not as you are now. You have been changed by warfare... And, I fear it is time for all of us to follow your example."

The Elder took a steadying breath before speaking loudly to the gathered villagers, "My people! We have all lost ones close to us! Our supplies are dwindling as the invaders demand more and more, their greed as profound as their wickedness!"

He continues, his old voice booming despite his age "From here on, we shall resist this fate! Our young men and their families shall join Ahirom in his flotilla. Elders such as myself and any others who wish to make one final stand in our ancestral land shall stay here. We will await the next raid, and on that day we shall spill blood of the invaders."

The rallying cry finishes in a desperate manner, one that would not usually inspire people to action, but in the case of Nusen, it resonates perfectly with the current climate of deprivation, hatred, powerlessness and restlessness!

"So, go! Sail unto the reef, all of you! Do not look back, for nothing will be left here for you to miss. Take all that you are connected to, and leave behind the rest! Our ghosts shall cheer for you in the afterlife!"

Of course, the main issue was that the Elder was essentially volunteering the elderly to perish with him. However, there was no recoil to his words. For the only surviving seniors in the village was one other retired hunter, and two grandmothers. All of them had previously expressed the same sentiments as the Elder of Nusen was now expressing to his people.

---

Ahirom stayed a couple days more in the village. On the day he left, over thirty men and their families joined him. Those who did not join were determined to die defending their village. In total, he had almost all of the sixty people. Less than ten stayed behind.

Countless rafts were given away to him, and months of supplies were prepared for him - as everything except some basic supplies were left in his care. After all, the people who stayed knew they would not be alive for long.

Most of the ones who stayed were those who would not be able to survive on sea. It was something too difficult for those of extremely frail constitution. The rest who stayed were the sentimental fools who couldn't bare to abandon their homes.

Overall, Ahirom's group multiplied in size on this day. The desperate people of Nusen had just been waiting for that single spark to set them off.

Perhaps, if he had visited even sooner, less of the residents of this village would have been taken away from their families - left to fates unknown, though surely filled with great horror and dismay.

---

Over the next few months, Ahirom and his crew visited several other decimated villages. Most of them were similarly eager to take to the seas and fight back, once they were informed of the ever-growing number of instances where the seemingly-impervious adversaries had been brought low.

Around this time, he learned second-hand that the last survivors of Nusen had perished in a battle with invaders. The story came from a wanderer who had been in the area had not known of the recent happenings. He reported to have taken it on himself to properly bury the bodies, rather than letting them rot in the swamp as they were. He also reported that even the dregs that had been left behind had not died in vain, from what he saw they took down an almost equal number of enemies.

This wanderer was taken into Ahirom's crew, by his own request as he had nowhere to go (his tiny village had been wiped out months ago and the man had been hopelessly searching for his younger sister since then). He proved a great asset, as though he had little fighting ability, he was extremely sharp when it came to tactics. Furthermore, he had the locations of a number of sites where the bodies of dead invaders lay. Most of these bodies were deep in the Mazes, and were now years old and half-sunken, remnants of back when the invasion had first began.

These bodies were  uncovered, and the armor and weapons looted. Now, half of the fighting men in the flotilla had the same equipment as their adversaries, drastically increasing their combat power!

--

The conflict with the foreigners increased after all this, and Ahirom's crew went on the offensive.
The foreigners were still almost impossible to fight in the regular way, but the resistance had gotten better and better at setting traps, and usign guerilla tactics.

Now, they were confident enough to kill most of the groups they saw. And they were seeing more of them, as the raiding parties had stopped coming when the villages started being abandoned.

On the third year anniversary of Ahirom's decision to resist, the state of conflict was as such:
 - The Flotilla has over 150 fighting members, about 350 total members. Most of thesae fighters have at least a piece or two of equipment looted from the slain invaders.
 - Overall, the Tribes of Color have lost 20% of their population. This number is increasing still. Most villages have been abandoned.
 - The surviving villages of Color still contain thousands of people, but they are under direct occupation. They are heavily defended and controlled by the invaders. Ahirom and his many co-leaders are wracking their brains to find a way to liberate their brethren.
 - The Flotilla is preparing a large-scale assault against the newly-constructed port to the East.
 - Even though fighting spirit is still high, people have become restless as they desperately wish to return to solid land. Some veterans have not settled down for more than a single night for over two years. It is weighing on them.

---

The conflict continues.

OOC: This was a bit scattershot and all over the place.
Since we're kind of doing episodic encounters here (while you're on vacation) I attempted to 'bridge' to the next episode

Basically, until you're off vacation, this is the plan:
 - I let you set the scene. Tell me what Ahirom Fugilin is currently doing, and I'll tell you how it goes.
 - We won't really have a back and forth, every pair of posts is basically just a 'snippet' of Ahirom's past.

Once you get back, we'll enter 'high-detail' mode like we are currently doing in other threads. The point we pick up at will be up to you, and it will be considered the 'present day' (412 AV, 336 DW, 84 SU, et cetera)

Hopefully this matches your intentions, I'm a bit out of practice on this style of writing. I'm thinking of it kind of like flashbacks

-Ahirom was surprised by the effect of his words on the elder. He has not believed his words would result in destruction of a village (even if indirectly).

-The years of resistance weighed heavily on Ahirom as well. Despite consistently winning engagements, they lost territory. While he did not yet think of strategy vs tactics, he recognized their current operations were not enough to win the war. It was like spearfishing minnows. Even if you caught a few, you would never sate your appetite or thin the school.

-in light of this, Ahirom voices caution on attacking the new port. They had to shift their activities away from conducting ambushes on the chromatic reef and instead pick a few settlements to focus their offenses on. Not directly assaulting the settlements, rather breaking their connection with the outside world.

-Ahirom then advised to split the flotilla. One group to travel far west and deep in the mazes to rest and train with the new weapons (after all, bows and arrows are of limited use if all the archers are bad shots). He asked the wanderer to oversee the training and ask to practice ambush tactics within the mangrove mazes.

-The other half of the flotilla would remain with Ahirom. He would then swear an oath not to step on dry land (except in the defence of a tribesman) until his people are freed from the tyranny of the metal men. Those who stayed with Ahirom, he would encourage to also take the oath.

-the half with Ahirom would be less proactive than before in hunting enemies over the reef, rather they would seek to understand the transit corridors used by the metal men within the mazes.

-Then in a few months time, his flotilla would find the wanderer's encampment and prepare to begin the war a new.


(Half not being 50%. Probably much fewer would stay with Ahirom at this point.)

Indeed, over the next few months, Ahirom's new tactic works out very well.

Focusing on the border with the Chromatic Reef and ignoring the deeper Mangrove Mazes had been a mistake. While they had many victories fighting the metal men along the coast, their settlements were captured by the metal men who had pushed through the dense swamps, unchallenged.

The two groups split up. Ahirom is in charge of the reconnaissance team, and a veteran named Sarufin Dyfed takes control over the settlement defenders.

Though they have minimum coordination between the two, they prove exceptionally helpful to one another.

Ahirom and company are not focused on combat over the reef anymore, but they find even more opportunities to fight than before. The metal men are even more inept in the mazes than they were on open water. In the first month alone, over a hundred invaders are sunk into the bog - usually dying from suffocation or even starvation after being ambushed with arrow or blade within the dark, murky mazes.

These horrific deaths have another purpose. They instill fear in the metal men. Even though their faces cannot be seen, Ahirom and his people begin to be more often greeted with fear and terror than with violence and aggression.

Some of the metal men are allowed to retreat, to spread word of the terrors held within the maze - to those who are unwelcome.

---

Meanwhile, Sarufin Dyfed proves himself to be an excellent commander, definitely Ahirom's superior. Soon, Ahirom and Sarufin are working together, and Sarufin has great respect for Ahirom due to his strategic thinking. Perhaps Ahirom also acknowledges Sarufin's ability to direct battles - it's not a particular talent of his, even though he has done so a number of times.

With Sarufin's lead, his men are rarely lost. Furthermore, the innocents are well protected - taking hostages doesn't work as the soldiers under Sarufin are spread wide to ensure a direct battle.

Sarufin's group is the one with the most of the new weaponry found by the nomadic man, whose name turns out to be Belhem Rhun. He also becomes a leading figure among both groups, as he has uniquely exceptional mobility and stealth and acts as a valuable messenger between the two divided groups.

Sadly, Ahirom's group lost the most men. Eight more men died. The reason for this was that as the water-bound unit, they had to split up the most between the Reef and the Maze. Sarufin was capable of defending the settlements his men already occupied, but the last free settlements were isolated and only Ahirom's group could protect them.

---

By the time the season has begun to change, the resistance has over one hundred fighting members, and the nomcombatant families have been settled into the rescued villages.

The thoughtful Ahirom, the brave Sarufin and the mysterious Belhem form the three central pillars of the army. They are heavily respected by their soldiers, and are in positions of equal but distinct leadership.

In fact, all three of them now have their own followers. Though, the groups are not rigidly divided, and any man is free to join any of them.

Sarufin has the largest static contigent, with more than forty fiercely loyal men ALWAYS with him, sometimes as many as sixty-five.

Ahirom's group is responsible for coordination and intelligence-gathering, they have twenty core members, and ten members who interface often with Belhem's group. Most of Ahirom's group has sworn the oath, or is preparing to swear the oath. The oath has become known as "Wiksis ud Nhat" (lit. Oath of Water)

Belhem acts as the conduit between everyone, his group is made of messengers who also make supply deliveries. He has around five to ten people he regularly acts with, though they show much less personal brotherhood as they are always separated from another on different tasks - they still have a sense of unity and belonging with the group, though.

---

With these many successes, there has been a notable hesitation on the part of their unseen enemy. The number of new individuals sent has decreased, and one occupied town has recently even been abandoned - though all the villagers present had been massacred or taken away with their captors.

Overall, the land is dyed with more blood than it has ever been.

Although Ahirom's group has fulfilled their purpose in tracking and detailing the corridors used by the metal men, they have not found their base, despite reaching the ends of the Mangrove Maze. It seems the metal men are invading from a far northern land.

Instead, with the flotilla's powers combined, the suggestion is made to head to the eastern part of the lands, where the sea-based attacks are being launched. It would be dangerous and difficult to travel upstream from the reef, so it would be best to enter from the Mazes.

Belhem is the one to reveal to Ahriom and Sarufin that he has some knowledge of the local geography. Despite being in his thirties, Belhem is more travelled than even Ahirom, though he had always travelled alone and not as a merchant. He is dodgy about his exact past, so everyone leaves it to be kept a secret.

Belhem reveals that the Tribes of Color are just a small part of the world, and that even the Mangrove Mazes eventaully end. To the north, they enter into a drier jungle with unfamiliar kinds of wood. To the east is the Watergrass Expanse, and Belhem reveals these people are humble farmers who speak a similar language to the Tribes of Color. He posits that the two were once the same people.

When asked of what lies to the west, Belhem answers with a never-before-seen dark expression, saying 'that way lies an abhorrently cursed land' and he cautions as strongly as possible never to visit that place.

After a week of cooperation, Belhem confirms a few of his guesses as he is allowed to move everyone as he needs to for a short time.
He confirms the location of their enemy, though only directionally:

1. The enemies are coming from two directions. The north, and the east.
2. The enemies who have been coming through the maze are from the north, and are many times more plentiful in population than the entirety of the Tribes of Color
3. The enemies who have been coming from the east across the Reef, are also from the north, but they have invaded the Watergrass Expanse and set up an outpost there, where they handle supplies and issue commands.

In the end, it is agreed that they should take out the Watergrass Outpost. The people of that land may even join their cause, despite not being of the Tribes of Color. Belhem is doubtful of this, saying the Daagi (residents of Watergrass) he knew were helplessly meek folk, to the last.

How will Ahirom prepare for the assault on the Watergrass Outpost?

---

OOC from here on out

State of war:

Current recaptured villages: Infetet (new!), Chhyrtis (new!)
Current abandoned villages: Tybe, Nusen, Whalichh (new!), +3 others
Current isolated villages: Just one left (Sarufin wants to aid them)
Current occupied villages: The rest (about 15, maybe)

Now that I have a better grasp on the language used by the Tribes of Color, I've made some local translations of placenames. Feel free to keep using the original ones you came up with:

Chromatic Reef = Sude Nhattalhak (lit. Colorful Reef)
Mangrove Mazes = Kheuf Bilal (lit. Mangrove Maze)
Tribes of Color = Sunewe (lit. Color People)

Meaning of names:

Tybe = 'Young Place'
Nusen = 'Yellow Root'
Infetet = 'Black Mulch'
Chhyrtis = 'Home of Chhyr'
Whalichh = 'Fish Paradise'

Ahirom = Up to you
Fugilin = Also up to you
Sarufin = 'Brave Arm'
Dyfed = Meaningless surname
Belhem = 'Good Cloth'
Rhun = Archaic surname meaning 'Explore'

Words for colors:

Fy = Cyan
Nu = Yellow
In = Black
Rig = Green and Brown
Mou = Vermillion (or really any bright red)
Nudzu = Blue - probably from "Nhat Su" meaning Water Color
Keufse = Red - probably from "Kheuf Su" meaning Mangrove Color

Linguistic notes for if you want to make names in this language in the future

 - There is no 'p' sound in this language. it would be 'b' instead.
 - 'Tybe' and 'Kheufse' are both two syllables. Ty-Be and Kheuf-Se. Basically the 'E' is not silent.
 - Any consonant can be aspirated, marked with an 'H' - for example Chhyrs has two 'H's because 'Ch' is aspirated.
 - Every syllable should have at least a vowel and consonant, but at most two consonants and a vowel. If explaining this as a linguistic nerds, I would say 'CV', 'VC', 'VCV' are all fine. This language has diphthongs, but they don't count as two vowels for these purposes.
 - Diphthongs used: 'Y', 'OU'
 - Digraphs used: 'Ch' represents the tʃ sound like in English, 'Eu' represents the œ sound which isn't found in English
 - No vowel elongation.
 - Stress is always placed on the first syllable.

Grammar-wise, adjectives go before nouns

These are just the established rules, these don't make a language.

The biggest flaw in all of this is probably that the phonetic inventory is a bit weird, but I'm not putting 100% into any of the languages of this world because there's going to just be so many and it's used as more of a flavor detail than vitally important worldbuilding aspect.

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:48, Yesterday.

Ahirom stewed as he considered the operation to liberate the Watergrass Expanse. It had not been a priority of his. Not until word came that one of the abandoned villages had been the site of a massacre and mass kidnapping. Despite a lack of communication, it seemed the metal men would rather exterminate his people than admit they could not hold the territory.  He reluctantly agreed with Sarufin and Belhem that taking the outpost in the Watergrass Expanse may cause sufficient panic that the metal men occupying their villages would leave without taking too many captives or committing massacres. Perhaps if they believed themselves stranded, they may even surrender. And once control is regained within the Mangrove Mazes, Ahirom was confident their tactics would be able to secure it against future attacks.

But that assumed a victory in the Expanse. Something not assured. Which is why Ahirom sat in a tent with Sarufin and Belhem, considering the details of an attack.
"We have been defending our waters for so long, perhaps the metal men expect us to remain in the mazes and the reef. Perhaps the initiative we gave can work in our favor if we attack with audacity."

The sheer number of the enemy was one of the largest factors in his mind. It was difficult to ascertain exactly how many were stationed at the outpost, but surely there were fewer than 100. If the Tribes of Color massed and attacked the outpost, Ahi estimated a numeric advantage. However, numbers were not everything; just as the mangrove mazes and the chromatic reefs had their dangers, the Watergrass Expanse had risks as well. Coordinating so boats would take time, especially given it was difficult to tell patches of land from open water -- if one boat was run aground they would need to choose to abandon it or wait for it to get unstuck. With over 30 vessels, either they would see enough delay that the metal men would have time to prepare a proper defense or tribes of colors forces would become too fragmented and they would lose the numeric advantage.

"But audacity is not idiocy, this is something that cannot be rushed. And we are not at risk of losing more ground as long as we stand in stalwart defense of our waters."


He turned to Belhem,
"You say the Daagi are meek? Are they cowed such by the metal men? We did not first react to the provocation by taking up arms, but we soon became forced to act by the kidnappings. Do the Daagi simply accept that their people are taken? Perhaps they have an arrangement with the metal men? Even so, nothing is truly 'to the last.' There are surely some Daagi who are willing to stand up the the tyranny they are under. Even if they are not trained in combat, they know the Watergrass better than any of the Tribes of Color. We would need no more than 10 courageous Daagi to guide our warriors to the Outpost."

Then to Sarufin,
"Then when the metal men send several boats at once, my forces will crush them in the mazes and then call to you to send the whole of our force to the outpost, take what we can, and burn the rest to the ground."


It was not the most sophisticated plan. Get local guides, wait until an attack, then counter-attack with overwhelming strength. But Ahirom was not a sophisticated man and he was aware the more complicated something became, the more points of failure could emerge.

He waited for the reply of the other two members of the triumvirate.


-----------------------------------------------------------
OOC:
Fuligin: Color of Soot and Black Smoke, a deep, unreflective black
Ahirom: Just a name