POV Onnas of the Gatherers

An intriguing thing was found in a small gathering expedition to the plateau where storms end, led by Onnas and containing Umhla and Necht.

Onnas loved gathering on the plateau. That was where all the good stuff brought by storms or moved by them was. It also wasn't a bad place to locate food sources.

Right after a large storm ended in the area, the elder council decreed that the gatherer expeditions should be led to the surrounding areas in hopes of scavenging items and potential new food sources that are occasionally brought by the storms. Onnas and his group were the ones sent to scavenge the plateau.

It was normal going for them, finding scraps of wood and occasional metals from destroyed ships, but they found something interesting. An iceberg surrounded by more life than they have ever seen around the occasional iceberg they have explored. There was a small hole in the bottom of the ice that Necht couldn't even fit through, but it contained more of that life, like the cave was a breeding area for them. But that was not all that the iceberg possessed.

When they surfaced and started looking around the ice that they could see, Umhla spotted a much bigger hole in the ice, something that they could all easily fit through if they crawled. The problem was that they would have to completely leave the comfort of the water. It wasn't something that genuinely bothered or stopped them, but getting out of the water and needing to switch to breathing through their noses was an annoyance. But for the potential food source that the hole could contain for the tribe, it was worth any discomfort.

After they climbed through and made their way through a curving tunnel, they reached a small room completely filled with water. Happy to see water again, they all slipped into it but were still careful. They didn't know what they would find or what lived in the iceberg. They didn't want to end up like Ollol and come home with missing limbs. It never happened to Onnas, but regrowing limbs was an excruciating, month-long process.

As soon as they had all slipped into the water, they spotted this delicious-looking krill swarm of an unknown monster species.

Using quick thinking, Onnas grabbed the camborine cast net and quickly threw it on top of the swarm before the monsters had a chance to attack. Pulling the net back to them and pouring them into his mostly empty bag.

With proof of what they found, they quickly left the iceberg and swam back to the tunnels.

Racing through the tunnels, Onnas, Umhla, and Necht reported back to the Head of the Gatherers, Accamh. Hearing their story and what they found in that iceberg, Accamh dragged them to the council of elders.

That was where they stood in front of the most terrifying group of the Tsiamewo, the elders.

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If you took their name to mean that they appeared old, this was not the case. The Tsiamewo were a species that originated from dungeon-borns. The very first of their kind was born and created within the great dungeon of The Wild Sea. This once mighty dungeon resided within the ocean that died under mysterious circumstances.

From this dungeon came their people, the Tsiamewo. Generation after generation was born, lived, and died within the dungeon. It is said that their ancestors made a deal with the dungeon core that allowed them to be free and live outside of the dungeon. It is said that this deal was made only a year before the dungeon died, and only a few of the Tsiamewo were allowed to leave.

Thus Onnas, Umhlas, Nechts, and everyone one of the still-living Tsiamewo came from those dungeon-borns who left their dungeon. Thus making them, to the eyes of the more "sophisticated species," mainly the humans, elves, and other major sentient species, just a step above sentient monsters.

The Tsiamewo people tended to live up to a hundred years, but the more mana one had, the longer they lived, and the aging process slowed. Giving the elders that sat on the raised platform youthful looks, all except that last remaining dungeon born. The head of all the elders, Tugnomo, was the last surviving Tsiamewo born in the Wild Sea dungeon and was over a thousand years old.

One by one, Onnas, Umhla, and Necht explained their story and what they found, and the krill that Onnas had collected was passed to each of the elders sitting on the carved stone chairs.

"It sounds like they found a dungeon," called out one of the newest members to grace the council of elders after he studied the krill monster and the core within it.

"And what do you know about dungeons, boy?" Sneered out a middle age looking council elder that Onnas knew to be around 600 years old.

"You forget Rull; I was a part of that contingent a hundred years ago sent to deal with the underwater dungeon that was killing everything that entered it," Replied the new elder.

To Onnas, who didn't know all of the elders' names except the head elder, Tugnomo, it was kind of confusing to watch the elders argue back and forth, and the argument between Elder Rull and the young elder was not the only one going on around them.

Elders were arguing with each other, all with opposing views. He had heard one wanted to completely conquer and subjugate the dungeon to be controlled by the Tsaimewo. Others wanted to harness it as a food source. Others wanted nothing to do with the dungeon, fearing its repercussions on them, the Tsaimewos, and if the dungeon and its treasures were discovered by outsiders, their area and their way of life.

Most, if not all, of the elders, were arguing, some even yelling to get their point across, except for the head elder.

Onnas watched as Tugnomo sat and listened to the rest of the elders devolve into arguments and yelling before banging his staff on the ground in three big thumps.

"Quiet!" He yelled, waiting for silence before continuing.

"I have heard enough! We will not be enslaving that dungeon. That would be an insult to where our race was born."

Before any elders who disagreed with this could say anything, he continued.

"We will be treating this dungeon with respect. If it is willing to have us in its halls, we will leave gifts for it in return for anything we harvest or take from it. We must all remember that we came from a dungeon. A dungeon made us, and we shall treat this dungeon with respect if it is amiable to allow us within its territory. If not, we shall stay clear of it. Do you all understand?"

For the elders' appearance of being elderly, with his greying plumage, wrinkly skin, and dull colours, Tugnomo still carried a lot of power and mana within him, even at the later stages of his life.

He stared down at each elder one by one as he got all their agreements.

"Good. I believe sending a couple of warriors with one of the gatherer groups should suffice. I believe the original finders of the dungeon shall be the gatherers to enter it. Find a couple of experienced warriors to escort them; they shall go as soon as they are ready. I call this meeting to an end." As he stood up, every Tsaimewo took their first and thumped their heart twice to show respect to the head elder.

Surprised at the head elder's words, Onnas started feeling mixed emotions about what he and his group were now tasked with. And looking at some of the elders' faces, they were not all happy with Tugnomos ruling and orders.