A great crackling emanated through the hearts of the schools. During the nights, some flashes could be seen in the eerie waters. Clicks and snaps echoes through the muddy waters, driving every creature to shelter. This noise could only come from a massive amount of Shrike.
It was the Father School. The strong bodies of these hunters glided by eachother as they spoke. But with no noise they spoke. Only through the quick pulses of energy they spoke. While their communication was fast, they took several seconds to understand what was being said. And only if next to eachother. Thats why they school and collected together for communication. But their purpose today was more serious than mere chatter.
The first to speak to the group was a female Shrike, with strong limbs for her school.
*Shrikes, everybody. Hunt gone. Stay? For no Hunt?*
A reply was shared from near the bottom of the school, a seasoned bull Shrike with many years of scars.
*We Hunt in Strangewater. We...*
Now here, there was an odd occurrence. A word that everybody knows the meaning of upon it's creation was made.
... BE Hunt.*
The Shrike all click in approval, the energy of which causes a bit of silt in the water to flare up in the water. The Shrike became familiar with it after many large talks. They sense that it is of great power, but know it is far beyond what they could use in a hunt. This flare inspired a pup to use his hunters organ more than normal. Through years of neglect of his body, he has grown weak to many Shrike. Yet he carries something as mighty as any other hunter.
*I lead Hunt. I get Hunt. This I say.*
The old Shrike does a varied shock, showing doubt and general displeasure. He speaks up with a tone that others would call sarcastic.
*You Hunt. You bring Hunt. You weak? How can you?*
This was followed by a string of insults from the whole school, in doubt of this little ones ability to hunt. Granted every pup from his generation left him alone thanks to his shock blinding their senses, so nobody really knew of what he could do.
*I challenge. I leader. I show.*
The elder tensed up from this, preparing for a charge. That young one really wanted to attack him? Ha! Soon the whole school would know of the folly of moving away from their homes. The elder charged first, kicking way some other Shrike with his tail. The young one did nothing, noting the Shrike around him except for the female with the strong limbs stayed where she swam.
Crackle!
It was beyond a click, it was beyond anything they have ever heard. Their Hunters Organ each had something about them change. You know that feeling when you wake up, and your chest feels constricted? Like you can't breathe as fully as you should? The Shrike felt that way about their zaps. They saw their elder twitch violently, then slowly float up to the surface. They could still feel life in him, but from the young one was the feeling of power. The water around him was buzzing with a charge.
*Now listen. Charge good. Charge, Change good. We change, we Charge. We strong. We Hunt.*
The entire school started clicking approval, the whole school using zaps stronger than they used to in communication. They were ready to get better at zapping instead of ramming. Through relying more on the zaps, they would be better hunters. They would become THE hunters.
The water that night not only flashed and glowed with energy, but also hummed. A collective bad thought was felt by creatures of the bay, like a terrible thing was being unleashed.
The Southern School was going through a similar meeting that night. Most of the Shrike there were either good zappers or good hunters. No elder was there for staying put. They were meeting about finding a new home. Despite their feelings over their species, they were prepared to eat their own to survive. Only the old and sickly pups, however. They were prepared to expand their abilities to become tougher, more prepared to survive. However, as they were becoming more psyched to survive they started to loose their ability to communicate as a School. While tougher, they were started to grow apart, hunting more in small groups than in large collections.
Okay, so this turn I introduced three parties. There are the elders who wish to grow in numbers and stay put, the strong-limbed ones who wanted to move, and the ones with great zaps, who want to move to a new way of hunting.
+5 to Hunters Organ
+4 to Language
Also, the D-10 School searches for a nearby tile with more food, as do C-11 and C-31. They need it.
And what would be the specific effect of the current EP distributions? How basic should I make their speech and culture? What can their limbs do? How powerful is their shock in regards to visual effect and effectiveness on creatures both larger and smaller than them? How much EP should I sink to going onto land?