[h2][center][color=Brown]Raethel Norvegicus and the Rattus People[/color][/center][/h2]

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Raethel had always found the settlement of the Greenland Docks to be an interesting contrast to Firstbarrows. Where the latter was largely located underground with settlements made of sand colored stone on the surface (turning sand to stone had been among the first tricks their people have ever employed mana to perform after all), Greenland had provided new challenges in order to properly settle it. 

While digging down was still possible, the vast presence of plant life and especially trees caused an issue that simply wasn't a concern in their homeland: Roots. They were numerous, big and often ran deep into the soil around them. While it didn't make creating barrows impossible, digging down to the layer you needed to be in order to avoid roots completely was something of a nightmare to do. While there had been some early clashes between the Followers of the Green Wind and others on the debate of moving the roots verse destroying or damaging them in order to bypass them, the truth of the matter was that both were highly time consuming and troublesome to do.

As such, the early settlers of Greenland had come up with an alternative method of dealing with their shelter problem since burrowing into the ground was so difficult to do in a timely manner; They started burrowing into the trees themselves. The idea wasn't as insane as it sounded, Raethel had discovered when he had visited the place for the first time once the settlers had gotten a bit more dug in. 

Some of the true giants of the forest of Greenland were massive things that alone could provide enough timber that would last the Rattus as a whole for years, but their size made actually felling them a logistical impossibility; Not only would it cause untold damage to the world around it as it fell and crushed everything unfortunate enough to be in its path, but wood trended to decay fairly quickly unless the could get to it and treat it first... and the sheer size of one of these fallen titans of timber would ensure that most of its bounty would simply go to waste if the time and effort was made to bring one down.

Instead, Raethel was proud to say that the settlers had solved two problems at once as they started burrowing into the titans and hollowing them out, extracting block after block of timber in the process while also leaving enough behind to both keep the tree stable and keeping it alive so that the rest of the wood wouldn't start to decay. This allowed the creation of rooms within the still living trees for Rattus to move into and maybe use some mana in order to strengthen the walls a bit in order to better support their house. 

This development also meant that unlike in Firstbarrows, where structures tended to go downwards, in the Greenland Dock settlement their buildings went upwards as they dug out more and more of the tree. There were Rattus who spent the dark hours of the cycle resting closer to the sky then most animals dreamed possible, with those in rooms closest to the outside even going so far as to gnaw holes in order to let in air and light. Some of the wood of the tree had gone into creating barriers for the entrances and these holes to the outside so that they might be closed as needed, but Raethel had to admit that it was quite a sight to see the tree barrows at night, when the shutters were left open and one could see the lights of the Rattus within brightening the trunk. 

The view from those upper windows truly was something to behold as well, as Raethel himself gazed from one out across the construction yards of the Docks themselves, as well as the forest and far out across the great salt waters for a [i]long[/i] way. He couldn't quite see their homeland from up here, but maybe in a few more years as they went further up the tree...

The only thing that was even more impressive then the view outside of the window was the expression on the faces of his children as they, in small groups, had their turn to look out and see it for the first time. While this exact height was new to Raethel himself, he had seen similar views in prior visits to the settlement... but this was the first time his children had ever been so far above the ground. He still somewhat remembered his first time gazing out and feeling a mixture of fear and excitement... it was something else entirely to see those expressions play out on the features of his pups.     

Then again, this whole trip had been a chance to witness his pups see and experience things for the first time. Sailing on open waters, the site of the tree barrows at early dark, the sight from the [i]top[/i] of the tree barrows.. but he still remembered the captivated look in the eyes of some of his pups from both litters when they witnessed the construction yards of the docks from up close. While he could see them from here if he poked his head out and looked down, it wasn't quite the same as actually standing there... and he didn't want to encourage his children to lean out the window either.

In person the dockyards were in full swing as countless paws worked on creating ocean craft. All one needed to do was look towards the ocean in view and one could see the fruits of the dock workers labors as wooden craft sailed between Greenland and the homeland to trade with Firstbarrows... but craft were also traveling along the coast south of the docks. While it was true that the craft could only travel so far still, each week seemed to bring improvements to the designs and how they were constructed, as well as better preparing them for the rigors and trials of the salty sea.

Their crews also had a chance to grow more experienced and practiced with every journey, allowing for quite a selection of Rattus to choose from in order to build a crew to fulfill Aethel's divine mandate for Rattus kind to set foot on a far distant shore that wasn't connected to their homeland at all. While he couldn't see it from here without setting a bad example for his pups, Raethel knew that down below the frame of a new craft was slowly being put together. One that was bigger then all the rest.         


[hider=Summary]
Raethel shows his kids the Greenland Docks Settlement, which just so happens to showcase some of the differences between it and settlements back in their desert homeland. 

There is also some foreshadowing of the next step in Rattus ambitions as far as ocean travel and exploration is concerned. The seas will belong to the Rattus in time. 
[/hider]


[hider=Spirit]
Start: 4

+1 for being apart of a post for longer then a line.
+1 for being main character.
+1 Med length post 

Divine Quest: Claim the Land of Deserts and Hidden Rivers for the Rattus (In progress)
Divine Quest: Discover a new land across the sea (Plus discover the ability to sail on the ocean) (In progress)
Divine Quest: Create safe passage through the Great Dragon Range so Rattus can explore the other side.
 
End: 7
[/hider]