Apologies for the lack of an update yesterday, I got a gateway error that's only just gone away.
But for the love of sanity, take a moment to ponder our own mortality and designate Ealrad as our successor. What if we fall and split our head on a rock or something? Who'll keep the tribe from disorder?
(6)You want to explore, but you also understand well the possible consequences of a failed expedition. The tribe has been incredibly unruly as of late, and they could very well decide to replace you while you're gone. At the very least they're likely to follow the tribe's old traditions, so you eventually decide to designate Ealrad as your heir. He is pretty popular among the people of the tribe and has a lot of promise, being quite smart and interesting to talk to. Even your unruly tribe is likely to accept him for the simple reason that he's just good at taking charge in general. Besides, you're pretty confident that he's one of your father's children, as your father wasn't exactly restrained when it came to lovemaking.
Now you're looking at the rather excited young boy, informing him of your decision to designate him as your heir and explore the hole. He is quite excited at being designated heir, but he frowns when you tell him of your plan to explore the hole. "You probably shouldn't go down there, the Shadow doesn't like visitors."
There's an awkward pause as you process what Ealrad just said. "...Shadow?"
He nods. "Mhm. He's a bit grumpy, but he helps me with my inventions!"
"And this... Shadow... doesn't like visitors?"
"Mhm! Even I'm not allowed to visit his home - he killed me when I tried!"
You stare at Ealrad. "But you're alive."
"Yeah, he brought me back!"
...Maybe you shouldn't explore the hole yet. You're pretty confident you've just stumbled upon something far more interesting.
What are you going to do now? Issues of immediate importance are the words Ealrad has just uttered.