NOVEL FROG Chapter 725 – Setting up Homes
“You have to give it to the nomads. Few can compare to them when it comes to optimizing how to set up shelters on the fly. Even nowadays most tent kits you see on the market or in use by the militaries are based on styles nomads had perfected over many generations.” - Friedrika Osenau, Adventurer from Algenverr, circa 688 FP.
When Clan Bloodfang reached their destination at last, a fertile nook of land cradled by a bend in the nearby river, everyone in the caravan gave a cheer.
Said cheer was immediately followed by everyone getting to work.
Bundles of long wooden poles and treated animal hide were unloaded from the wagons, as were many rolls of rope, short wooden stakes, and other necessities to set up an encampment. Most of the orcs of the clan immediately went to work to set tents on their summer domicile, while the rest made preparations for dinner later that day.
Unlike most cases where people usually cleared the land where they would set up their shelter, the orcs instead made use of the terrain in the area as part of their shelter. Some treated trees as another pole in their tent’s construction, while larger trees and rocks were used as support for lean-to shelters often built around them.
During the time they were on the move, most of the clan slept in the open with only some – typically the old and the young, as well as those in high positions – sleeping under simple tents. The tents they set up in their summer home, where they would stay until around mid-autumn, were larger, more complex ones, however. They still had portability in mind with how the parts that formed the tent were easily dismantled and transported, but were made to feel more like a real home.
Lean-to shelters made from two wooden poles set parallel to each other, at around forty-five degree angle from the ground, with a third pole tied to connect their top ends, with a large piece of hide stretched over them were rested against a large tree or rock. Those shelters provided enough room for three to four orcs to sleep side by side under them and were typically used by young warriors or hunters who had yet to claim enough fame to warrant better.
Larger square frames of wood had large sheets of hide covering it, then set at a slight angle on top of supporting poles to create larger, open-sided shelters that could fit up to seven or eight underneath it. Such shelters were where younger members of the clan who were neither a hunter or a warrior and were unmarried slept at.
Woven hammocks with net-like structures were tied between the poles on three sides of such tents, two to a side, providing even more space to sleep at, with one side left unobstructed for easy entrance and exit. In a way, the orcish society made it easy to get a glimpse of one’s status in the clan simply by looking at the place the individual slept at.
Married couples and their families had enclosed tents, either smaller conical ones for couples that had yet to possess children of their own, or larger rectangular ones for those with larger families. The enclosed tents gave them more of a semblance of privacy and also gave them room for themselves instead of having to share like the others.
The most lavish by far were the large, circular tents where people like honored warriors of the clans, the shaman and their apprentices, and the chieftain lived at. Such tents had a lattice structure of wood reinforcing their walls with a central support pillar. The walls of such tents were made of finely woven and embroidered fabric, and the insides were piled with comfortable furs and rugs.
Honored warriors who had made a name for themselves but had yet to start a family would share such a place with their peers, while the shaman would share another with their apprentices. As the clan’s great shaman, Miro was entitled to one of his own, and invited Aideen’s group to share his tent with him, since his own apprentices had long since moved out. Similarly, the chieftain also had one such tent for their family’s use.
If the clan planned to host honored guests like Aideen’s group it was not uncommon to erect another such tent for the duration of their stay, but since Miro’s tent was mostly vacant and he invited them, they saw no need to trouble the clan to set a tent up just for themselves.
They also helped out with setting up the tents, partly to learn how the orcs did so. The way the burly and brutish-looking orcs nimbly and expertly used ropes to secure their structures was quite mesmerizing to watch. Similarly, pieces of hide were secured to the frames to form watertight roofs for the structures with skill that spoke of much practice.
Some even sat down and wove more hammocks on the spot when they noticed that they were short a few, their large, strong fingers smoothly weaving the rope to the desired form with practiced skill.
A few of the honored warriors who had just finished setting up their tent decided to add another bit of decoration to the embroidered fabric that covered it, which was notably more sparsely decorated compared to Miro’s or the chieftain’s tent. They did just that as some took up dyed thread and needles and started embroidering new patterns into the weave as the others gave suggestions.
It was tradition amongst the clans to have the warriors decorate their tent themselves, some immortalizing their feats in the scenes depicted in the embroidery, others simply showcasing their handiwork and skill with the needle. When a warrior left the shared tent to start a family of their own, they would carry a piece of the embroidered fabric – the part they worked on themselves – to pass down to their family and descendants.
Some of the tents used by families were covered with embroidered fabric instead of hide for that reason, as the inhabitant had inherited enough heirloom pieces over the generations to use for their own homes.
