Continuing their conversation, Iris explained

"The way I see it, the natural disasters we are most at risk of suffering from are tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. Tsunamis would mostly affect those who live closer to the ocean and we don't live close enough to a volcano. Things like flooding could be considered a potential threat if it rained too much, but, even then, all but the single-family homes are multi-floor, so people could temporarily stay in the upstairs area of their homes. Their food sources could be affected, but that wouldn't be happening in the cold season, so it is still possible they could go out and hunt for more food. We aren't exactly in an area that regularly floods anyway.

Anyway, in the case of a tornado or hurricane, we would essentially end up having a giant mass of wind swirling around and causing things to fly at dangerous speeds. Buildings could become damaged, crops could be destroyed, and anyone who isn't properly sheltered could end up dying. We can't do anything to prevent such a natural disaster from occurring and we live too close to the ocean to assume that it would be an entirely rare occurrence.

We should encourage our citizens to hide in their basements or, if they are stuck outside, they should get as low to the ground as possible and huddle on the ground, protecting their heads with their arms. Preferably, they should try to get into a ditch, if at all possible. We don't really have a lot of those, mostly just the ones water passes through in the farming areas or the ones with spikes around the outside of the city. I wouldn't climb into a pit of spikes, but getting covered in water is a small price to pay to increase their level of safety.

Afterward, we will need everyone to check for damage around the area and immediately start restoration efforts. Some homes may end up collapsing and trapping survivors, so we would also have to do our best to account for everyone and ensure we rescue those we can. Most of the homes are fairly sturdy and don't have windows, so it should be fine for the most part. However, it is better to be safe than sorry.

In the case of earthquakes, it is a similar case. People should huddle under a sturdy table or, otherwise, in an area without things that can collapse on them. It is fine to stand out in the open outside so long as there aren't any nearby trees or areas where rocks might fall from the top of the mountains on top of you. Still, we might want to consider encouraging people to huddle close to the ground and protect their heads. Their spine would still be at risk of being damaged, which could cause them to be disabled for life, but it wouldn't be a case of them instantly dying like if they lost their head."

Iris paused her explanations to give Caspian more time to write things down and let the others express any thoughts they might have. Fern looked a bit sad by the rather serious topic while Hazel seemed thoughtful. Knowing him, he was likely trying to think of ways he could incorporate the information into building more useful furniture or making improvements to existing structures. When everyone just continued to look at Iris expectantly and Caspian finished writing, she continued

"Let's see here, next would be wildfires, right? We already do a lot to promote fire safety by ensuring everyone knows how to prevent fires from spreading out of control and how to deal with it if things do start to get crazy. Either Caspian or the water elemental we have in the tribe should be summoned to help put the fire out before it gets worse. However, in the case of a wildfire, it's possible we won't notice anything is wrong until there is too much wrong to actually do anything to prevent it from getting worse.

Stone buildings are more likely to end up charred, but not destroyed. So, it's likely that we can just encourage everyone to flee in the direction of the Mermaid Tribe and then return once the fires die down. Since we have friendly relations with their tribe, we can trade with them for seafood as well as create safe drinking water. Still, it might be good to encourage everyone to create an emergency bag they can just grab and take with them if they ever need to flee. Things like materials for camping, clothes, crystals, or other essentials they can't live without for a few days to weeks."

Iris stopped again to give everyone a moment and Birk stopped looking at the cubs for a moment to say

"That would have been really helpful for my tribe when we had to flee our homes. We likely wouldn't have struggled as much while searching for a new home and maybe fewer of us would have had to separate from the main group. I was impressed with the tents, campfire, and water-purifying skills you showed off when we visited the Mermaid Tribe. Much of that could be created without having anything on hand, maybe it would be good to have some classes to teach that sort of thing?"

Iris nodded before replying

"If you want, you could teach a survival skills class and include that information as well as information on foraging for plants. I don't know what all the Owl Tribe tends to teach their young, but I have noticed you all tend to be good at hunting, foraging, and other survival skills, so it would be great for you to share that sort of information with others."

Birk felt a little strange about that idea. To some extent, such information being shared with others felt wrong. He had a lot of pride in where he came from and their traditions. However, there was no longer an Owl Tribe in the way there used to be. Now they were part of Blue Springs City and things were different. Perhaps, it was wrong to think like that. Maybe he should instead be thinking about how he could help all of the citizens of their city and consider them all part of one large mixed tribe. Yes, he nodded to himself, that would honor his mate far better than falling into the flawed, old way of doing things.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Iris took his nod as agreement and decided to move on.

"Alright, well, the remaining threats are primarily war and attacks from wild beastmen. While it would be nice to pretend there was no possibility of that ever happening and just hope for the best, it isn't realistic. So, I guess we should talk about that next.

Realistically, there are only four things we can do to improve such a situation. First, we can try to retain diplomatic relations with all cities and tribes near our tribe both now and in the future. It is entirely possible that a new tribe could end up moving to the area the way we did sometime in the future, after all. However, we can't just be passively friendly with them, we have to take a more active approach.

That means we should sign contracts with them and use an oath with the Beast Deity to reinforce it. We shouldn't be willing to compromise on our principles or be walked over, but we have to realistically weigh the potential threat of war against whatever compromises are asked of us. Some people might try to take advantage of us, but I'm sure others would just be happy not to have to worry about having conflict with us.

The second thing we can do is to reinforce our city with defensive structures and traps to catch any intruders off guard and better keep an eye on things. However, too many traps can also be problematic as they can interfere with our citizen's daily lives and make it difficult for everyone to live comfortably. We don't want people to regularly end up in the clinic with broken legs and bleeding to death just because they can't take one step out of the city without falling into a trap. Everyone still needs to hunt and forage for food, after all.

Third, we can train our citizens so that our overall defensive and offensive power is stronger. This can intimidate potential enemies as well as reduce any casualties should we have to defend our city. Since Ember has said that many of the males in our city have been steadily growing stronger and even have been granted elemental abilities, it sounds like everything is going well. We just have to keep at it. I would like to get a report on the strength of everyone and what elemental abilities there are, though, so I can make an appropriate plan for everything before the rainy season."

Iris paused and Ember nodded while Caspian said

"I'll make sure to get it to you soon."

Iris easily accepted this answer and continued

"Alright, well, there is another thing we can do as well. We can work on developing a new type of weapon for the weaker males to use. In my world, we have had bows and arrows for a long time. Basically, we would need pliable wood to make a curved wooden side for a bow and then a strong string-like substance for the other portion of the bow. Sinew, thin lengths of animal hide, or mohair from angora goats tended to be the most commonly used materials in the history of my world. Then we would have to make arrows using sticks or reeds for the main body with flint or stone arrowheads for a sharp pointed end and, potentially, feathers on the other end to make the arrows travel further. We may also need twine made from thin strips of reeds twisted together.

That will require us to get in contact with the Green Falls Tribe and the Golden Tradesmen to see about acquiring some of the necessary materials. Then we will have to experiment a good bit until we can make a suitable product. However, since the guard towers have roofs and only a lower wall, we can have people shoot in the gap between the two with the bows and arrows. That will likely intimidate any attackers as well as increase our attack power without forcing the weaker males to engage in a fight they may not be prepared for.

As for my fourth point, that mostly just goes back to improving our ability to care for the injured and recover from any attacks. If we have fewer lives lost, then we can maintain what strength our city does have for much longer so that it can more easily grow in the future. How have the first aid classes been going?"

Iris turned to Basil who looked a bit surprised to suddenly be in the spotlight. However, he quickly composed himself as he answered

"Well, I've mostly just been teaching basic things like how to properly administer medicine, care for a sick person, and change wraps on an injury. I've also taught them the CPR you taught me since that knowledge was simple enough to teach. There isn't actually that much to teach, so I usually just have people come in for classes for a month and then accept a new group. I'm on my third group of students, but I've been keeping the groups small with only ten people each time. I have only been holding classes once a week, so I wanted to be able to ensure that I could properly ensure everyone learned everything with just four classes.

Most of them seem to understand everything by the end of the classes, but I still don't know how much good it will do. They'll still have to come to the pharmacy to purchase medicine and the clinic will still have to personally oversee any serious ailments."

Iris nodded as she replied

"I'm sure it will help a lot more than you realize. That means forty fewer people have to come to you whenever they have something minor wrong with them. An injured male who is no longer on their deathbed can just have someone else in their family pick up medicine and change the dressings regularly. Then you only have to see them once a week or so and can have more time to take care of others. Considering how few witch doctors you want to keep employed, it's bound to help a good bit."

It was a bit frustrating always having this sort of obstinance from Basil. However, she was still happy to see some progress being made. Iris also wasn't sure if Caspian's initial ask about projects had been answered, but she hoped that making a defensive plan still proved useful for the future. Although, hopefully, none of that would be happening anytime soon.