Chapter 304: A new surprise

Words : 2464 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

It happened one morning towards the end of the month. A military base in Beleriard received a mysterious communication from the eastern part of Maakanar. People on the other side were asking for permission to send a delegation to speak with President Jersey. The military was clearly confused. When asked which nation they belonged to, the people on the other side replied that they spoke on behalf of the Maakanar Federation. Obviously, this nation did not exist on geographic maps. Not knowing what to do, the military contacted the upper echelons, which in turn contacted the government. Eventually, it was decided to give permission for the mysterious delegation to come and speak. When Jocelyne talked about it with Sobek, he laughed at her and told her that she would have a nice surprise, and that he himself did not expect them to 'show up so soon'. Jocelyne didn't understand and she was quite offended, but the spinosaurus didn't want to give explanations, spending his time just laughing. The delegation arrived within a few weeks. When they saw them, the people in government were a little surprised. They were Neanderthals, but not only: there were also some Homo sapiens who, after a quick search, were found to have disappeared three years earlier during the war between humans and dinosaurs. Two people were in command of the delegation: a man named Jake Sully, who turned out to be a colonel lost in battle; and a woman named Neytiri, a high priestess of one of the many Neanderthal city-states. It didn't take long for those people to explain to them who they were and what had happened during those years. Sobek, of course, already knew everything; humans had focused on him for the past three years, ignoring the rest of the world, but the dinosaurs on the contrary lived everywhere on the planet and saw everything, so even if in a somewhat rough way Sobek was already aware of what it had happened and he fully shared it. He hadn't talked about it for the simple fact that he was irrelevant to him because of him. After all, from his point of view, they were just one more nation to be included in the Eden Union. The explanation that Jake and Neytiri gave to the governments of the rest of the world was very detailed and lengthy, but it could be summed up in a quick speech. It all started after Quaritch's defeat and Jake's decision to ask the Neanderthals for help to escape the wrath of the dinosaurs. After he and his men reached the city of Neytiri, they were initially not welcomed in the best way. To begin with, the Neanderthals had requisitioned their weapons and then tied them up and held them captive for a few days. Many of them feared that offering them asylum would attract the wrath of the Great King of the Forest and the other Lords of the World, and believed that the best choice was to abandon them in the forest to punish them for their sins. On the other hand, doing this would have contradicted their religious teachings, which stated that any guest was always sacred because protected by the gods. It had been pretty rough days for both sides. Jake's soldiers were terrified of the Neanderthals refusing them asylum: returning to the forest meant being left in the territory of the dinosaurs, the same ones who had exterminated millions of soldiers much better armed than them. Someone had even proposed to take the city by force, but was quickly silenced since in that case the dinosaurs would have no problem attacking them: if the city no longer belonged to the Neanderthals, but to them, then what would have changed than staying in the forest with no one to speak for them? Unfortunately, all they could do was wait and hope for the goodness of their hosts. Jake spent almost every day kneeling in front of the Mana building, praying to Neytiri to choose to protect them. Neytiri, however, was in no less difficult position. The terrible moral question tormented her: abandoning thousands of people to their fate was an affront to the teachings of the Neanderthals, but accepting them meant risking the wrath of the gods. The other Mana had recommended numerous solutions, but given her the role of Supreme Priestess of her, it was up to her to make the final decision. And it was difficult even for her conscience, and Jake's pleas didn't help her. Dinosaurs obviously knew everything. After all, it was difficult to hide the sudden and sudden increase in population from the eyes of the pterosaurs flying in the sky. Initially they decided to ignore the matter, but after the embargo went into effect they decided to ask Sobek how to act. The spinosaurus thought about it, then decided it wasn't worth destroying an innocent city for a group of now defenseless soldiers. Thus, she sent an anurognathus to Neytiri to tell her in great secret that she could welcome the survivors. Unbeknownst to her, this would set off a chain of events that would change the fate of the Neanderthals forever. Having received the consent of the Great King of the Forest, Neytiri stopped being afraid for her people and finally allowed Jake and his men to settle in the city. The Neanderthals were initially skeptical, but Neytiri quickly calmed them down by explaining that the Great King of the Forest had advised her to follow the rules of hospitality. After that explanation, the Neanderthals had immediately changed their minds, even if they had kept a certain distance from Homo sapiens for some time. Jake and his men were put to work expanding the city and building new homes. After all, there were more than three hundred thousand and the place in the city was not enough. Food, on the other hand, was not a problem: thanks to Sobek's gifts and Mazu's advice, food and water were practically infinite and Neanderthals did not care about them, being able to easily share them with refugees. The work did not last more than a few months, since it was wooden constructions. It took a while, but over time the social barrier between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens began to break down, especially thanks to the efforts of Neytiri and Jake. That was the beginning of the great change. Most of the refugees were soldiers, but not all. With them there were also engineers, doctors, nurses and several other individuals from the most diverse professions. Once the two peoples began interacting more frequently, their knowledge inevitably began to merge, just as was happening simultaneously in the Beleriard. Sobek had solved the problem of food and water, two of the most serious tragedies for primitive peoples; however, that didn't mean all their worries were gone. Illness, dirt, heat fluctuations and other serious problems were still present. Therefore, the Neanderthals did not disdain the help of Homo sapiens at all when they offered it to repay the hospitality. However, at the same time they demanded limits: in fact, they did not want to risk the 'bad technology' infecting and corrupting them as had happened to Homo sapiens. Thus, Neytiri established that guests could exercise their professions as long as their products could be produced naturally. Thus, the Neanderthal city began to change completely. Homo sapiens taught Neanderthals new ways to use metals and other materials, or how to make medicines using certain plants. And so, very quickly, the wooden and straw houses that did not shelter from the cold were replaced by stone constructions supported by a primitive concrete, the doors and windows that could not be closed or opened were replaced by others with hinges and with a better processing technique, a complex system of sewers was built to clean up the city and ward off the arrival of epidemics, the roads just mentioned were replaced by more orderly and smoother lines of stone and finally the old fields, once used to cultivate food and no longer used for nothing, they were converted to grow medical plants. Guest houses, forges, infirmaries and other buildings for the production of these things quickly appeared in the city. If they could, the Homo sapiens would have entirely replaced the entire city with steel and concrete constructions. However, the Neanderthals were unwilling to let them do that. Mindful of what the Great King of the Forest had declared long ago, they did not want to take the risk of losing contact with nature and heading towards a dark path. Thus, the city that was created was a perfect blend of urban and nature, full of gardens interspersed with buildings built with primitive materials. Initially the Homo sapiens found that choice ridiculous, not understanding how they could prefer to live with such a primitive lifestyle; however, in just four months the mentality of most of them had changed profoundly. Living side by side with Neanderthals, Homo sapiens quickly assimilated their culture and began to appreciate that simple, calm life, much more peaceful than the hectic one they were used to. After four months of living in the city of Neanderthals, looking over their shoulders, the Homo sapiens realized that, were it not for relatives and friends who could no longer see, they would not miss their previous life at all. Of course, that didn't mean there weren't tensions. Many Homo sapiens, especially from those countries that saw Neanderthals as nothing more than workforce, considered them 'inferior'. Likewise, some Neanderthals believed that Homo sapiens were polluting their culture, especially the warriors or the more conservative. Both Neytiri and Jake did their best to keep tensions to a minimum, also aided by the common understanding that the dinosaurs wouldn't appreciate a bloodshed. With this information, a lot of effort and the help of the many who preferred peaceful coexistence, Jake and Neytiri were able to slowly assimilate the two peoples. During this long period Jake, as spokesperson for Homo sapiens, found himself spending more and more time with Neytiri and the two grew closer and closer. So much so that even some rumors began to circulate about an alleged forbidden relationship between the two, since the Mana could not marry or have children; however, these rumors remained nothing but rumors. After a year, the Neanderthal city had become much neater, cleaner and more beautiful than it had ever been. Most Homo sapiens and Neanderthals were getting along well by now and had adapted to that new lifestyle, but there were still some belligerent factions on both sides. Eventually, Jake and Neytiri found the perfect way to completely erase any tension: find and unify all the other Neanderthal and other hominid tribes into one great nation. Since their appearance on the planet, Neanderthals have never been able to move beyond the concept of city-states, unlike Homo sapiens. However, they now had both the knowledge and the weapons necessary to establish lasting contacts with other tribes. Jake told his men that helping the Neanderthals would be a way to win the goodwill of the dinosaurs, as the Neanderthals were their 'allies'. Likewise, Neytiri told the belligerent warriors that this was a way to prove their courage and gain glory and honor. In a single instant, any tension disappeared completely. The new goal, which perfectly matched everyone's interests, quickly made people forget any divergence. Large scouting teams were organized to venture into the forest in search of the other tribes; since dinosaurs no longer attacked Neanderthals and explorers had firearms with them, so the journey was much easier, although not that easy. The first contact with other city-states took place within a few months, and since then, safe and continuous contacts have been established between them. However, this did not happen with roads and vehicles, but with the power of telecommunications. The Homo sapiens had with them thousands of radios and other electronic devices, and among them were some who knew how to build them. After all, it was even possible to build a mobile phone out of natural elements. Therefore, the various city-states were able to maintain contact and exchange information without ever meeting. It was the beginning of a real golden age for the Neanderthals, since the knowledge first introduced only in the city of Neytiri was quickly introduced in all the others. In turn, the other city-states exchanged information with them, sharing science, culture and religions thanks to the power of telecommunications. That situation did not take long to reach Sobek's ears. When he learned what was happening, the spinosaurus agreed with the project. So, he decided to give a little help. Very soon, explorers began to notice that some birds and pterosaurs did not just fly over them, but pointed the way to the nearest city-state. Also, the pterosaurs dropped seeds. Seeds that the explorers brought to other city-states and planted, creating feeders that could feed the entire population. These gifts, united by the fact that it seemed that the gods were favoring the union between the tribes, cemented the relations between the city-states even more. Within two years, the explorers traveled from one part of the continent to the other, until the number of city-states in contact with each other exceeded two thousand. Only a few particularly xenophobic tribes chose to stay outside of that huge communications network. And at the end of the third year, under the advice of Jake Sully, all the tribes finally established a treaty of alliance and common rules among all of them, effectively forming a huge and gigantic federal nation. The nation was called the Maakanar Federation. Having finally gained their unity, both Neytiri and Jake agreed that the time had come to make contact with other nations and consequently with the dinosaurs themselves. This was a cause of joy for some, who expected to finally be able to return home, but also of great concern to others, who began to wonder if, once they got out of the forest, they would still find the world as they remembered it. However, there was no point in procrastinating. So, they chose to send a delegation team to Beleriard, where they could potentially talk to both a human head of state and the dinosaur head. And so they left, headed by none other than Jake and Neytiri themselves, who as the greatest creators of that nation were those who best represented the Neanderthal people. And it was in this way that they discovered, quite unexpectedly, that Eden Union had been founded and that the world was slowly merging into an international organization at peace with the dinosaurs.

Chapter 304: A new surprise

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