The Eaglefolk dwelt among the mountains, generations rooted in the highlands, with a particular fondness for cliffside perches.
Around the peaks, they carved caves with stone tools to make their homes.
Gaoman Mountain was but an ordinary hill in the vast, ancient world of Felander.
Yet, legends spoke of the Eaglefolk's royal court, perched atop a majestic peak called "Sky Mountain"!
It was a grand, awe-inspiring mountain, home to tens of thousands of Eaglefolk, the ancestral heart of their kind. The Gaoman Mountain tribe traced its origins to this sacred place.
After Jarius became the chieftain of the Gaoman Mountain tribe, he set about transforming their way of life.
Stone caves, though secure, had grown foul after generations of habitation, with sanitation a persistent issue.
The First Year.
Jarius crafted stone axes, felled trees, and led his people in constructing dozens of wooden cabins and beds over the course of a year, creating new dwellings.
The original caves, sealed with wooden doors, became ideal storage spaces.
The Eaglefolk's cabins featured two entrances: one on the roof and another near the cliff's edge for easy comings and goings.
After completing the cabins, Jarius rallied the tribe to dig a central pit, carving out a pool for drinking and daily use.
He assigned tribesfolk to fetch water daily.
Then, he encircled the cabin cluster with wooden walls, forming a small village.
While less secure than the caves, Jarius gazed upon the village and, for the first time in this wild land, felt the breath of civilization.
His heart settled.
The Second Year,Winter.
Jarius led the young Eaglefolk to brave the winter snows, tracking and slaying several hibernating black bears in the Whispering Forest.
His strength and skills grew, and he donned a bearskin cloak.
It was warm.
The Third Year.
In the eastern reaches of the Whispering Forest, Jarius encountered a magical beast.
Fortunately, it was a deer-like creature, powerful yet gentle, content to remain in its territory, easing Jarius's concerns.
Still, his yearning for extraordinary power burned ever brighter.
The Fourth Year.
While leading a hunting party in pursuit of bison, Jarius ventured three thousand meters west.
There, he discovered an open copper mine!
His heart leaped with joy!
Copper!
This was the key to ushering them from the Stone Age into the Bronze Age.
With copper tools, the Gaoman Mountain tribe's strength would soar.
But soon, a young Eaglefolk scout soared in from afar, warning of a nearby Snakefolk tribe.
The Snakefolk, like the Eaglefolk, were vassals of the Titan Giants.
Yet, the two races had warred for generations, their territories overlapping, locked in ancient enmity.
In primordial times, before the four-legged eagles evolved into Eaglefolk, they preyed on the Snakefolk's two-legged serpent ancestors.
But when both races received the Titans' gift of enlightenment, evolving into sapient beings.
The Eaglefolk's dominance waned.
The Snakefolk bred faster and wielded bows with deadly skill.
Though the Eaglefolk held the advantage of flight, their sharp talons were ill-suited for archery.
A skyborne archer, even without supernatural powers, would have been a formidable force.
After a moment's thought, Jarius's desire for copper outweighed his fear of the Snakefolk.
He asked gravely.
"Len, how many Snakefolk are in that tribe? Are there any with extraordinary powers?"
"Chieftain, I didn't get a close look,"
Len admitted, scratching his head sheepishly.
"No matter. We'll take another look,"
Jarius replied, unperturbed. It was already commendable for a young Eaglefolk to spot the tribe.
Leading a team of Eaglefolk youths, he took flight, soaring several miles until they spotted a small Snakefolk tribe by a river.
Circling above, Jarius observed that the tribe was in a state similar to their own.
Endless wars had sapped their strength, leaving mostly the elderly, weak, and women.
It made sense—Snakefolk were even less suited for battle than Eaglefolk, mere fodder in war.
Still, this tribe outnumbered the Gaoman Eaglefolk, with roughly three hundred Snakefolk.
Jarius made a decisive call: wipe out the Snakefolk tribe.
That night.
He led the tribe's able warriors in a stealthy raid, striking as the Snakefolk slept, and eradicated the small tribe.
Then, they began mining copper and smelting bronze.
Jarius, with some knowledge of ancient smelting from his past life, succeeded after a few attempts.
The Fifth Year.
After a year of effort.
Nearly every warrior in the tribe wielded a bronze weapon.
With bronze, they could hunt larger, fiercer prey.
Even weaker magical beasts became targets for cautious probing.
Most tribesfolk favored bronze spears, but Jarius forged himself a bronze sword.
The Sixth Year.
As the tribe's bronze reserves grew, Jarius used the surplus to cast a great bronze cauldron!
Now, food could be cooked in the cauldron.
Soon, other bronze tools followed:
bowls, basins, pots, spoons, and more.
At last, Jarius declared that the Gaoman Mountain tribe had left the Stone Age behind, stepping boldly into the Bronze Age.
They were more civilized than most races in Felander.
The Seventh Year.
At sixteen, Jarius was considered an adult among the Eaglefolk.
His frame grew taller and stronger, his wings tougher and more powerful.
This year, with war looming, Jarius began forging bronze armor!
The Eaglefolk's wings made back armor impractical, and heavy armor would hinder flight.
So, Jarius crafted light bronze plates for the chest, arms, and head.
These simple suits, about a dozen in total, were worn by Jarius and the tribe's strongest warriors.
His lifelong companions, bound like brothers.
As time passed.
In the autumn of that year.
With golden leaves swirling in the breeze.
An envoy from the Eaglefolk's royal court arrived as expected!