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Description
It was something of a surprise to the Expedition's colonists and ship when Discovery descended and plugged into a body brought along in storage. The humans still treated him with the same respect, veneration and loyalty which was required of them, which was what mattered in the end. This project was of some importance and could use extra Administration, especially with Detail overseeing the health of the crew. Things had proceeded fairly smoothly so far, but there were still risks none the less.

After a month of preparing and setting up base they would begin Drilling operations. The whole reason for bringing this force more than 13,000 kilometers was the wealth that lay underneath the ground. It would be a small scale operation, more of a training exercise as an effort for extraction. Several Derricks were set up at a promising deposit inland deposit and began humming. But as expected they were not alone for long.

Their activities had been watched, the Recon Drones had made that clear and on the evening of the second day they were met by a party of natives that were dubbed "Blanket Men" by the settlers. A few tribes of them lived in the immediate area, farming potatoes and several local cultivars as well as raising herds of large semi aquatic rodents and lanky grazing quadrupedal mammals. Those that lived on the rivers were more sedentary while those that lived inland were more nomadic, driving their herds along and gathering. For mounts they did not have horses, but they did have large flightless birds that made effective mounts. According to Detail, some of the Humans thought they were just chickens until rumor got around, until they saw what one of them could do to a cow. As for their weapons, they had simple bows with flint arrows, Napohjek spearswords and long spears. They wore little armor, simple curiasses of wood and conical helmets made of wood or metal strips fastened to a cloth lining and held in place by rings. There were a few warriors in this band, but also a tribal leader. They approached calmly and quietly, if this was an attack they would be blowing ceramic horns and screaming prayers of blood and destruction to their war god.

"Steady men" He commanded to escort squad. He was sure that he could have this small group dispatched, but it was an embassy. Shooting them would likely cause more problems than it would solve. He had monitored the natives fairly closely and had managed to work together the basics of their language.

There had been some conflicts between the natives and the settlers. A couple raids were launched in the first two week by the nomadic Gosho Tribe which ended badly for them.The other tribes in the area, the Issan, Klebba and Shol were more cautious and receptive to these newcomers, especially since they killed a few Gosho warriors who had a tendency of through this area and demanding that they pay tribute to them in exchange for not sacking their villages. They sent scouts to scout things out, but did not fight. They also engaged in some trade, mostly selling fresh produce, meat and fish for strong drink and iron goods, particularly pots, knives, tools and armor. The river tribes could work iron, but they used primitive means to do so and had to either use charcoal or import coal from upriver, a fact which would need to be be investigated.

The leader, an elder the Klebba tribe asked what they were doing in this area of land, which this tribe had been using for grazing and hunting. He told them that they were digging wells for a black liquid that burned that was found underground. There was no purpose in lying to him about this. The natives knew of Petroleum, but they had no use for it. He asked about the machines as well as a few other things. Discovery got a few words wrong, but the Elder did not begrudge him much of it. In any case, he gave them a case containing a twenty four iron helmets and four steel breastplates. This was enough to please the locals and say that they did not see anything wrong with this endeavor. With that they went back to their efforts. A fence would be advisable never the less, as would clearing out a the grass around the area.

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Description
It was something of a surprise to the Expedition's colonists and ship when Discovery descended and plugged into a body brought along in storage. The humans still treated him with the same respect, veneration and loyalty which was required of them, which was what mattered in the end. This project was of some importance and could use extra Administration, especially with Detail overseeing the health of the crew. Things had proceeded fairly smoothly so far, but there were still risks none the less.

After a month of preparing and setting up base they would begin Drilling operations. The whole reason for bringing this force more than 13,000 kilometers was the wealth that lay underneath the ground. It would be a small scale operation, more of a training exercise as an effort for extraction. Several Derricks were set up at a promising deposit inland deposit and began humming. But as expected they were not alone for long.

Their activities had been watched, the Recon Drones had made that clear and on the evening of the second day they were met by a party of natives that were dubbed "Blanket Men" by the settlers. A few tribes of them lived in the immediate area, farming potatoes and several local cultivars as well as raising herds of large semi aquatic rodents and lanky grazing quadrupedal mammals. Those that lived on the rivers were more sedentary while those that lived inland were more nomadic, driving their herds along and gathering. For mounts they did not have horses, but they did have large flightless birds that made effective mounts. According to Detail, some of the Humans thought they were just chickens until rumor got around, until they saw what one of them could do to a cow. As for their weapons, they had simple bows with flint arrows, Napohjek spearswords and long spears. They wore little armor, simple curiasses of wood and conical helmets made of wood or metal strips fastened to a cloth lining and held in place by rings. There were a few warriors in this band, but also a tribal leader. They approached calmly and quietly, if this was an attack they would be blowing ceramic horns and screaming prayers of blood and destruction to their war god.

"Steady men" He commanded to escort squad. He was sure that he could have this small group dispatched, but it was an embassy. Shooting them would likely cause more problems than it would solve. He had monitored the natives fairly closely and had managed to work together the basics of their language.

There had been some conflicts between the natives and the settlers. A couple raids were launched in the first two week by the nomadic Gosho Tribe which ended badly for them.The other tribes in the area, the Issan, Klebba and Shol were more cautious and receptive to these newcomers, especially since they killed a few Gosho warriors who had a tendency of through this area and demanding that they pay tribute to them in exchange for not sacking their villages. They sent scouts to scout things out, but did not fight. They also engaged in some trade, mostly selling fresh produce, meat and fish for strong drink and iron goods, particularly pots, knives, tools and armor. The river tribes could work iron, but they used primitive means to do so and had to either use charcoal or import coal from upriver, a fact which would need to be be investigated.

The leader, an elder the Klebba tribe asked what they were doing in this area of land, which this tribe had been using for grazing and hunting. He told them that they were digging wells for a black liquid that burned that was found underground. There was no purpose in lying to him about this. The natives knew of Petroleum, but they had no use for it. He asked about the machines as well as a few other things. Discovery got a few words wrong, but the Elder did not begrudge him much of it. In any case, he gave them a case containing a twenty four iron helmets and four steel breastplates. This was enough to please the locals and say that they did not see anything wrong with this endeavor. With that they went back to their efforts. A fence would be advisable never the less, as would clearing out a the grass around the area.

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