Katha and the Standing Stones

Katha made the arduous climb up the final hill towards his home, a small village nestled in these hostile hills. It would just be down one more time, and up, before he could see his village. He had not been home for many years. As a boy, he yearned for freedom, to roam and

Climbing the hill, however, he found a very different sight. The hill that he was accustomed to seeing between himself and his home was no longer a smooth, rolling hill, but instead dotted with standing stones.

Katha climbed down the hill, and reared up next to the stone. They were slabs of stone, stacked vertically, into piles, just about as large as him - or slightly larger. The entire hill was covered in these piles, with large piles in the centre, and more meagre piles trailing off towards his home village, which he could not see. Katha noted that he only saw a single trail of smoke ascending into the sky, instead of the usual dozens.

Slumping his pack on to the ground next to one of the stone piles, Katha began to investigate. He picked up one of the stones of the larger piles, and from underneath it, a smell most foul was produced. Placing the stone back before wiping his eyes and nose, he pressed on, intent on announcing his arrival to the village.

Walking down the hill, Katha noted that the stone piles changed the closer he got to the village. They became bunched closer together, and smaller. They seemed more hastily constructed - more chaotic. As he passed the last one before the first fence of the village, Katha felt a chill go down his spine. He glanced at a gap between two stones, and felt as if there were eyes in the void, staring back at him. In addition to that, he happened to see a stone protruding from the stone pile, oily black and ashen - like a black finger, pointing the way to the village.

Approaching the village, Katha was met with an eerie silence. Typically, the village would be bustling with life - both human and animal. Looking at the fences, he found no sheep, no goats, nor cattle. He could only hear crows, perhaps one or two, in the trees near the village. Seeing a single trail of smoke rising from the centre of the village, he approached it, peering into houses along the way as he passed. Empty.

Katha approached the smoke's source, a small hut in the centre of the village. Upon entering it, Katha was met with a horrific stench, comparable to that of the stone pile on the hill outside of the village. Peering around the hut, he found it was filled with dead - and dying - villagers. Only one woman raised her head, and locked eyes with him.

Gasping for breath, she raised an oily finger, as black as ash, towards him.

The plague had come, and now there was no-one left. Katha was alone.

History of the Seskeansaumos

The lands of the Yenisey, from about 3300, were home to the Afanasievo Culture, an Indo-European people related to those whom pre-dated the Yamnaya Culture of the Don-Volga River Valley. Archaeological finds in this region show that the people whom created these burial sites had tools made from stone and copper, and had trinkets and jewelry of gold, silver, and copper.

The culture, much like its Indo-European cousins, had knowledge of both two and four-wheeled carts, and used them in conjunction with cattle and horses - both of which they had domesticated, along with sheep and goats. The Afanasievo Culture continued this way of life, until burial sites stop showing up at around 2500 BCE.

Archaeological record relate to the present that from approximately 3000 BCE-1500 BCE the Yenisey basin was wracked with strife. Grave sites belonging to this culture have human remains possessing the bacteria Yersinia pestis - Plague - in their teeth. Additionally, from 2800 BCE to 2500 BCE the presence of another cultural group - the Okunev Culture. In the region in which both cultures are present, there is genetic evidence to suggest that these two cultures mixed.

The Seskeansaumos

The Seskeansaumos are a mixture of Indo-European and Yeniseian cultures, created from the two groups co-existing in the Yenisei Basin. The people are primarily nomadic, travelling with their herds of cattle, sheep, goats, and horses as the seasons demand. For the most part, however, the group stays between the Ob and Angara Rivers, rarely crossing without good reason.

The Seskeansaumos are organized in small family units, lead by a patriarch. Travelling with a shared herd with a common clan, the patriarchs of the clan convene to make important decisions, though typically defer to the most senior of these patriarchs. In times of hardship, the clan will dissolve, splitting the herd, in order to survive more easily in a more scarce environment.

Claim Information:

Claim Map: Link

Claim type: Nomadic

Claim Era: Chalcolithic

Relevant Technologies: Horse Domestication, Wagons(?)

Economy: Opt-in