Buckskins (f/f Historical, forth attempt so please be serious!)

[Chrystal]

Buckskins

TAKEN

It is the Fall of 1837. A trapper-trader known to the Northern Cheyenne as "Soft Tongue", because he is always softly spoken and never seems to have a beard, arrives at a Cheyenne village approximately where Rapid City SD is today. He has with him a pack mule loaded with trade goods - Blankets, hats, jewellery, mirrors, clothing, knives, but most importantly an oilskin wrapped bundle that contains half a dozen trade muskets.

The Cheyenne need the muskets badly, because the Lakota are slowly but surely pressing South. Already there have been raids on Cheyenne villages and it won't be long before there is open warfare between the two tribes. Being a canny trader, Soft Tongue keeps the guns back, bartering the other trade goods for the skins the village has to trade first. When he finally brings out the weapons he sees the village headman's face fall.

Because the headman now has a dilemma. He has traded almost all the skins and other valuables for the hats, blankets, trinkets and fire-water. He has very little left to trade for the weapons, and yet if he is to hold his own against the Lakota, he must have them. But all he has left to trade is the village's winter food supplies, and if he were to trade those away, he might as well give in and surrender to the Lakota.

And yet there is hope. Because he has seen the looks that his eldest daughter and Soft Tongue give one another. They think no-one has noticed. In fact, they don't even realise that the other feels the same. And so, in exchange for the guns, he offers his daughter in marriage to Soft Tongue.

Imagine her surprise on their wedding night when she discovers that Soft Tongue has a big secret... He is a She...



As it says in the title, I have tried writing this story three times already. The idea is that the female trapper flees the village due to circumstances we can decide. She escapes the Cheyenne, taking her squaw with her. But there are only certain ways she can go. Due East would be the shortest route to safety, heading back to the Missouri river and the trade forts there. But that is the way the Cheyenne expect her to go. She would be overtaken within days, on the wide open planes. She could go North and hope to reach the forts along the upper reaches of the Missouri, but to cross Lakota territory with no trade goods and a Cheyenne woman in tow would be suicidal.

West was the Badlands, and then hundreds of miles of trackless wilderness until one reached the Spanish settlements of California. South seemed the best hope, but with several rivers to cross and winter approaching after a wet summer this would be equally perilous, plus they would be moving in the same direction as the Cheyenne as they followed the buffalo.

One hope remains, a new trading post established just three years earlier, called Fort William (now known as Fort Laramie). If they could make it there they would be relatively safe. But the shortest route lies across the badlands. Even today, walking that distance along marked tracks and roads, the shortest route is 185 miles and would take an average walker 62 hours (according to Google maps). Allowing 8 hours per day travel that's 8 days. I think we can safely say that on horseback but with no roads and no trails to follow, it would take our intrepid heroines about two weeks?



I will play Soft Tongue, the butch lesbian trapper-trader. You will play the Cheyenne Chief's daughter (name up to you). Unless you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to play the trapper, in which case I will consider it if you can make a compelling case.

You will need either a knowledge of the time period in question, the weapons, the practices of the people, or be willing to research the info on Google (as I have).

As ever, I am looking for a female player - lady or female liege - who is interested in seeing this story through to the end, is willing to discuss it with me, willing to tell me if I post something they don't like, and willing to change a post if they post something I don't like. You must be able to move the story on, rather than just reacting to my posts, you must be literate and able to use a spelling checker (the occasional typo is fine, but please try and check for red squiggle underlines?

A knowledge of Cheyenne and French would be helpful but are not essential. I can point you in the direction of a Cheyenne dictionary, or we can just post everything in English.

If interested please send me a PM with the word "Buckskins in it somewhere.

[Chrystal]

Giving this a nudge because i really would love to write it!

[Chrystal]

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