Finally, under cover of darkness, the people spread out, placing the mammoth between themselves and the riverbanks. None had ever faced a creature like this, and no one knew what to do, but it was too late to turn back now. The great animal moved to face them.
Then chaos erupted. Those that thought they were leaders were tossed about in the same whirling cyclone of beast and man, all one great savage mass woven together as they tore their way along the river, then through it, then across to the other side. Many of the people died that day. At one point during those terrifying minutes it seemed it had all been a tragic mistake, and surely the people must all be gored and trampled till nothing remained of their story.
Ultimately, however, a small band stood grimly victorious over the slaughtered corpse of their fearsome enemy. Some of those that had never wished to fight were among those that survived, and they mourned bitterly for the loss of their beloved friends and family, women and men. All of those that survived, regardless of their opinions before hand, came away from the experience with a renewed sense of their own strength. After this, what enemy could ever stand against their might?
Indeed, some of the larger and stronger of their group began to seem more and more aggressive as the band returned to their settlement-camp, bearing the carcass on litters, making their slow way home from their adventures. Eventually one family’s tent and some of their possessions were smashed by a pair wrestling violently one night. This event gave rise to a meeting, where the people decided to set aside time for the more energetic and strong members of their population to practice fighting. And so their strongest became stronger, even as the people’s sense of law began to form.
After many months of peace, the band set forth again, it’s numbers bolstered and it’s spirits renewed. First they wandered through the desert to the south of the settlement they now called Mescida, and found new foods and seeds to plant that they had missed before. Next they went toward the forests to the west. Here they found a settlement superior to any they had ever conceived of, with elaborate wooden timber structures. After a pleasant meeting with what amounted to the council of The People, it was decided to merge the two settlements into one new tribe. The new camp was called Korchub, and lay in pleasant country just south of the river where they had hunted the mammoth.
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