A pretty massive victory for option E3. So, offer him some political authority as a council member and send some moderates to train with him. Let's see what happens next.
The council convened immediately after seeing the flames summoned by the Wielder, uncertain on the course of action to be taken.
The debate ran long into the night, finally a consensus was reached. The Wielder would be offered a spot in the council, to participate in all important tribal decisions. Before giving free access to his supposed powers to anyone who asked though, the training would be bestowed on two keepers chosen by the council. The Wielder received and accepted his new post with just a short esitation, apparently satisfied of the outcome.
Two of the most moderate keepers of fire, those who not long before had supported the creation of the water spirit worship, were summoned.
The elders took the two keepers to a side and asked them to report back on all that transpired during the training sessions.
Things were quiet for a while. Rebuilding efforts continued, the herds were slowly replenished, the dead were buried, fish was fished and communal shelters were yet again built.
The volcanic grumbles and explosions were slowly ebbing until, after two very harsh winters (during which the help of the Wielder and his trainees was invaluable to keep temperatures acceptable in the camp) and very cold summers, the sun again pierced fully the ash cloud, that slowly disappeared.
The two trainees started performing minor miracles, summoning small flames with their hands without efforts and starting larger conflagrations that left them drained.
It was nothing compared to the feats of the Wielder, who could apparently effortlessly throw balls of fire that exploded on impact a great distance away, and was always accompanied by an aura of heat that many found discomforting.
A few more winters passed by uneventfully. The only lasting consequence of the eruption was the pollution of the river, who kept dragging ash and slime into the lake. We were forced to send our fishing boats ranging far along the left shores.
It was one such fishing expedition that one day of summer came back to camp bearing important news: they had gone for days in search of bigger shoals towards the setting sun, until they reached the place where the hills stopped rising right on the shores and green plains were seen again.
That's where they met another boat, not of our tribe.
The men from the strangers' boat hailed them, very surprised to find boats coming whence none should be coming from, according to them. They said to be part of a small camp nested next to another river, survivors from some of the tribes living on the opposite shore of the lake who were forced to flee by an aggressive tribe of feral humans.
Our fishers, uncertain on what to do, remained vague about us and resolved to go back immediately and report on the situation.
During the council, a few men spoke:
A. The chief of the scouts was the first:
'Very interesting news. Those people look to be very similar to those who were once refugees and then became an integral part of our tribe. Let's send a delegation headed by the water shamans to their camp to discuss friendship.'
B. The head of the militia didn't agree:
'That's what they said. What confirmation do we have of their words? Send a stealthy scouting party first, to make sure they speak truth. Then, and only then, can we think of more options.'
C. The Wielder smiled slightly, stood up and said, his voice the soothing murmur of a small fire:
'This is the first of those tribes I mentioned when I first got back to our tribe. Let me head a delegation, to show them the glory of fire worship. I assure you they will be very eager to join forces with us.'
Author's note: from this update onwards I will spice things up a bit for myself and you. Other than the proposals I put down, you can make your own open suggestions (on the topic at hand, of course). If any of those reach a sufficient consensus I will put the voting up again the next day or, if it's overwhelming, just go with them as the main choice. If none are made or it's apparent none has support, I will just count votes as normal. This might slow down the rhythm since some proposals might be made late in the 24 hours grace period and subsequently gain small support because people aren't just logged in, and if I feel that is the case I will make it a 2-day update, but I think it's worth the risk.
If you don't like it, just say so and I'll resume the normal schedule. That's the first 'open' choice you can vote on, of a sort.
So:
D-E-F-G-H-etc. Open
