Sakal The Crop Bringer
Tuntemo Te-Sakal (a.k.a. Sakal Talitreruta)
A botanist famous for re-establishing plant life outside the shelters after the Final War.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Sakal-Te and her younger sister grew up in Tilge-Za, a city west of what is known as the Zugzaspo Sea today. Their father was an academic biology teacher and their mother a concert composer. Thanks to their parents' established careers, they had a rather comfortable life up to their early adulthood, focusing on their education as a botanist and a veterinarian, respectively.
The Final War broke out less than a year after Sakal-Te began to study for her advanced degree in botany. She married a mycologist in 3 NZR, after working together on a number of publications. One year later, she received her advanced degree, and another year later the couple moved to a shelter in the Ralenlos mountains, together with their respective parents and her sister. Shortly before the move, Sakal-Te had laid an egg, and so their son hatched merely five months before the war's devastating end.
Employment
She worked as an assistant researcher at her university, from the day she began studying for her advanced degree up to the time her family moved to the nuclear shelter. Her research focused on the study of trees in the border zones between oases and deserts. In particular, she had written her advanced degree thesis on the symbiotic relationship which they formed with various fungi.
After the Peace Conference, she was employed by the newly-formed Rilsu government, as one of the leaders of Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut, a multi-disciplinary research team. After the First Harvest, she was promoted to a supreme teaching degree and granted the title of tuntemo by virtue of her valuable research and proven leadership skills. She continued her work for Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut until her retirement in 19 VZR, at the age of 38 years.
Accomplishments & Achievements
A New Scientific Field
When the Rilanga and the Ran-E-Zu retreated to the Ralenlos mountains, several larger government-controlled shelters stored seeds for various grains, vegetables and fruits. However, the shelters offered little room for raising these crops, and the mountain regions barely held any fertile soil. Therefore, one of the top priorities after the war was to find ways around these limitations. Sakal-Te reached out to her surviving professional contacts, and approached the newly-formed Rilsu government with a proposal for a multi-disciplinary research initiative focusing on that issue. Additional scientists from the Rilanga side were recruited into this group, which was then placed under the leadership of both Sakal-Te and a similarly renowned Rilanga biochemist. The initiative was given the Rile name "Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut", literally "Plantlife Restoration Group". Its research brought together existing disciplines such as botany, mycology, geology, chemistry and microbiology. The overarching scientific field would later be known as "restoration ecology".Redefining Farming
After developing more efficient approaches to hydroponic gardening, Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut was also involved in the first expeditions to the oasis regions north of the Zugnur Sea. Unfortunately, the samples that they collected of the recovering plant life turned out to be highly contaminated and many mutations had become toxic to animals and people. While her Rilanga counterpart sought ways to purify the existing plant life or counteract its toxicity, Te-Sakal (having adopted the Rilsu naming scheme) decided to focus on making the non-contaminated soil usable. Only the land high up in the Ralenlos mountains was found to be safe for cultivating edible plants. That left the problem of getting crops to grow in shallow ground that lacked the necessary nutrients. Inspired by her earlier specialization, Te-Sakal decided to focus on fungi for finding a solution. She supervised several smaller teams which examined how various fungi coped with the barren environment, which mushroom species were most efficient for food production and how the soil was transformed by the fungi growing through it. Te-Sakal herself spent countless late nights analyzing the results of planting various crops in the same spot as the most promising species from the aforementioned research. In the autumn of 9 VZR, she publicly presented several samples of different crops that had been coaxed into symbiosis with matching fungi. Vegetables, fruits and mushrooms had flourished, proving that her team's research was ready to be applied on a larger scale.The First Harvest
During the following spring, larger amounts of the coveted seeds were planted in several regions which had been placed under strict protection for years. Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut contributed fungal spores which had been multiplied in their laboratories, and meticulously prepared the soil with the appropriate symbiosis partners for the crops in question. The growth process was closely observed and documented throughout the year, with Te-Sakal personally keeping an eye on the spore solutions distributed over each patch of land. The autumn of 10 VZR saw the first large-scale harvest after the Final War. After a decade of relying on canned, dried and powdered foods, the Rilsu were finally able to enjoy notable amounts of fresh grain, vegetables, fruits, nuts and other produce. This gave rise to the tradition of Kongebla Haghaku, the Fresh Food Feast which is still celebrated today.Public Recognition
In Life
As the leading person behind the symbiosis research, Te-Sakal was awarded the Gukezu Nobluvo (Spring Crab Medal) shortly after the First Harvest, in recognition of her team's efforts towards rebuilding Ranul's civilization. Her descendants donated this medal to the Denfa Sasmi Museum when it opened in 256 VZR.After Death
The government-funded Te-Sakal Scholarship was established in 74 VZR. To this day it supports young scientists in any of the fields related to the work of Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut. In 522 VZR, during the celebrations of the 512th Fresh Food Feast, a statue of her was erected near the shelter where her family survived the Final War. The shelter itself became a museum at that time, dedicated to her research and how it affected the Rilsu civilization.
English
I feel deeply honored to receive this award. I thank you for the trust that you placed in Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut, and I am proud to say that we delivered on our promises. But still, the greatest reward is to see the plants grow, blossom and bear fruit after all these years. We have shown that this world is far from dead. We have shown that there is a future waiting for us. And I promise you - I promise you all - that the feast we just shared will merely be the first of many to come.
Rile
Hakru va iverasi pabsi, res vutga nu guleru. Reg sa o goduru va, re Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut o pampu nuboruro, di muru pi iru va rengehaksi, si reg romupru reg vami pamemparuro reg va. Pa nontat limbil ulrep si iru, sil fitru di aguru di lingoru reg milut utgiru va, vuz reg ad nu. Gotruro reg va, sil ropibru keb iru sas nu vutgo. Gotruro reg va, sil reg va ki leniru muzu. Di reg sa o mupru va - reg sa bez o mupru va - sil kongebla si, miz nu buzruro faf reg va, tud zatruta lu nomiz vombit iruni.
Rile
Hakru va iverasi pabsi, res vutga nu guleru. Reg sa o goduru va, re Ub Lenliz Lu Kegmilut o pampu nuboruro, di muru pi iru va rengehaksi, si reg romupru reg vami pamemparuro reg va. Pa nontat limbil ulrep si iru, sil fitru di aguru di lingoru reg milut utgiru va, vuz reg ad nu. Gotruro reg va, sil ropibru keb iru sas nu vutgo. Gotruro reg va, sil reg va ki leniru muzu. Di reg sa o mupru va - reg sa bez o mupru va - sil kongebla si, miz nu buzruro faf reg va, tud zatruta lu nomiz vombit iruni.
Audio
Awww, I love her and her mushrooms! <3 Really interesting research, and I'm glad it worked out and she got recognition for it. :)
Thank you very much! :D
Creator of the Kaleidoscope System and the planet Miragia.