Part 5: The Battle for Sapia
Chapter 94: Survival of the Sentray
Several thousand years earlier. The contaminated water had brought the Sentray close to extinction. Their numbers dwindled quickly, as very few were able to reproduce. Using their far superior numbers, the Linap drove the Sentray off the mainland. The remaining Sentray went far out to sea. They were able to do so as they were part aquatic. Travelling out to sea was still a strain on most of them. This caused their numbers to dwindle further.
Once the Sentray had completely left the mainland, the Linap assumed they would all die out within a generation. Some texts were written about the Sentray, but most of them were archived in the House of Divine Knowledge main library. The following generations of Linap were not taught about the Sentray. They became an unnecessary part of their history.
Eventually, the Sentray found several far-off islands where they could settle. All the Sentray that could no longer reproduce died out. The few that could reproduce had one and, on rare occasions, two offspring. The Sentray population continued to fall, but less rapidly. The next generation of Sentray still had fertility problems, but most were now able to reproduce. After a few generations, the decline in population stopped. They were able to reproduce sufficiently to maintain their numbers. However, these numbers were low.
To support the small population of Sentray, the islands provided plenty of food from the surrounding sea and plenty of fresh water from streams. Each generation grew bigger and stronger than the previous. They had also become very strong swimmers. They could cross great distances in a very short time. This enabled them to greatly expand their hunting grounds. It also enabled them to visit islands far further away. With the help of a unique seaweed, the Sentray had also become more fertile. For the first time in generations, the Sentray population started to grow.
The Sentray population growth forced them to expand their territory. They needed land to lay their eggs. This also pushed them closer to the mainland again. The islands near the mainland were suitable for nesting. As their population continued to grow, the Sentray split off into many different groups. Some of them headed further north, and others went east. They avoided the mainland. The new generations of Sentray were accustomed to the ocean environment and food sources. At this point, the mainland appeared as just a giant wasteland to them.
The Sentray population growth continued. There was nothing to stop them. The vast ocean still had ample resources to offer them, and they had no natural predators. The Sentray did not have sophisticated ways to communicate, but they were intelligent in a different way. They knew how to hunt efficiently. They were able to gauge how much to hunt, and they knew where to hunt. This prevented a depletion in their food supply. They knew how to space themselves so that there was minimal competition with each other. The Sentray population could expand to the point where they could encircle the entire mainland.
It had been a thousand years since the Sentray had any contact with the Linap. This changed when the Carvaress Company sent exploration vessels out into the ocean. One of the vessels encountered an island that the Sentray used for nesting. The crew of the vessel took several Sentray eggs from the island. This disrupted the Sentray. They did not directly encounter the vessels, but they were able to track them. This led them much closer to shore.
While they were closer to shore, they used the Sapien fishing areas as temporary hunting grounds. However, the Water Sapes closer to shore did not suit their palates as well as the deep-sea Water Sapes. Therefore, they did not intend to move into these waters permanently. The Sapiens did not need to fish far from the shore. They could catch plenty of Water Sapes closer to land. Therefore, they did not encounter the Sentray.
After the eggs were taken from their nest, the Sentray became more interested in the activity on the mainland. On occasion, some of them even briefly came ashore. The trains and train line fascinated them. On one occasion, one of them rammed a concrete pillar, causing damage to it. This led to the eventual derailment of a train. When the trains transmitted the high-pitched scream of one of their babies, it caught their attention.
For the first time in centuries, a large group of Sentray came ashore. They wanted to track down the location of their offspring and find the perpetrators who took them.
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