Namakata	Aldin Busheytail	Other Squirrels	Council of Elders	Our History	Moxie's alt.dbs page

First Written 7 January, 1998
Last Update 14 November, 2002

New in this update: (proudflick) a new look for our website, update on our history and other cosmetic work. To that end, I have taken some of the 'pretty pictures' I like from FrontPage and worked them into this website without the memory-hog effects of using straight FrontPage. }:3

Location: Deep in the Maine Wilderness near Nahmakanta Lake, approximately 45o 45' North, 69o 7' West. Or in reference terms, about 20 miles west of the human settlement of Millinocket and 30 miles northeast of the human settlement of Greenville The lake stretches from southeast to northwest. The original lab/warren was located under Nesuntabunt Mountain on the southwest shore, founded by Checkers Rabbit Mentat in 1972. The current lab/warren of the Namakata Free Squirrels is hidden somewhere on the opposite shore near where the lake shore starts running more east-west. A full overview of the history of Namakata Labs is available for history buffs or the curious. One of the oldest wilderness camp lodges in the state is located at the far northwest end of the lake. Nahmakanta Camps operates year round. In the alt.devilbunnies reality, the owners are good friends with their squirrely neighbors.

A gray squirrel bounds down an ancient white pine and sits on a knot about your eye level and flicks it's tail at you. The butt of what appears to be a mini-crossbow protrudes from a holster on its back.

(greetingsflick) "Welcome to Namakata. The Council of Elders have asked me to be your guide today. You can call me Silverleaf."

"Council of Elders?"

(affirmativeflick) "After the rebellion, we formed a council of rulers to make decisions when necessary. It was deemed that this ruling body should be made-up of the wisest of those among us. Usually, one gains wisdom with age, and thus Council of Elders. The current head of the Council is Ash Busheytail. Numbers-wise, currently there are around 1000 of us here counting recent births."

Silverleaf leads you down by the lake and through a grove of ancient white pines. You stare in disbelief at their heights. "How come no one has cut these down?" Silverleaf pauses a moment giving you a funny look.

"You aren't from Maine are you?" (curiousflick) "We're in the middle of the 43,000 acre Nahmakanta Public Reserve Land--to be forever preserved for future generations to enjoy." (prideflick) "Nahmakanta has become the Maine Human's gemstone in their Public Reserve Land system. A few years back we finally found the deeds to this land and sold it to the state through an intermediary with the understanding it would become as it has. We've invested the money from that sale to maintain our supplies for our survival and research."

"Research?"

(gigglechitter) "You are a rather inquisitive one aren't you? This place was founded by devilbunnies to conduct research. This is one of the places where they perfected nanite enhancement of squirrels, you know. (See the Squirrel FAQ) But since the rebellion against our former fluffy masters, our research has turned towards the needs of our allies, the Army of Fudd. I'm not a member of the research team so you would have to ask one of them what they're up to. All research is coordinated through Mentats Aldin Busheytail and Mustard SnowPaw." (pauseflick) "However, Aldin is more or less retired now. Kind of understandable as he's the eldest of those who live here, but he declined a seat on the Council for he feels he's too busy with his research." (shakeshead) "I don't really understand how he can call himself retired and still do research." (shrugflick) "Anyway, he does," (howeverflick) "sit-in on the meetings of the council now and then." Silverleaf pauses another moment. "One of their minor, recent achievements was the adaptation for squirrel use of a bunny crossbow captured after a battle in the fall of '96. More recently we've started producing the Antibunnies™ vaccine for our Fudd allies and supply a good portion of the east coast with this vital medicine.

Silverleaf leads you through a hidden entrance into the warren/lab, down a corridor and down a flight of stairs, with a log going down the center of the stairwell, which Silverleaf takes, waiting for you on the next landing down. You pass what looks like a squirrel gym and do a double-take as a squirrel with a squirrel-sized martial arts sword makes practice swings that others within imitate.

(hushflick) "Don't disturb Sensi Amaeru (Ronin)," (alt.dbs OFF: written by David Barrett alt.dbs ON) Silverleaf whispers. "He escaped the devilbunnies of Japan and made his way here on invite from Councilor Ash. As you can see, he's set-up a dojo to teach his martial art of Bushy Do to others."

Silverleaf leads you through a brief tour of the warren, showing you the labs, storage rooms, etc. Along the way, he introduces you to and tells you about some of the other squirrels who reside at Namakata.

"Namakata is once again powered as it was when first founded, totally by hydroelectric power. We have turbines installed in the bottom of the riverbed of the nearby turbulent Nahmakanta Stream and these turbines produce more power then we really need. For a while the buns had used a small nuclear power plant here." (shudderflick) "And they claim they're pro-Gaia! We were successful in shutting-down and dismantling this reactor." (obviousflick)

Silverleaf leads you back to the surface. "If you wish to spend time with us, we can provide you with guest quarters be you bun, squirrel, or human. If human, there is also the Nahmakanta Camps at the northwest end of the lake which has been around for over 125 years and was recently featured in the human magazine, Down East (March 2002). They are friendly to us and provide a good meal with their cabins." (howeverflick) "They do protect our secrecy and will deny our existance if questioned. Just tell them to put the bill on the 'Oakhurst Tab'¹ and you should be all set." "If you have time this evening, maybe one of the elders will tell a story about one of their many adventures [alt.dbs OFF: Namakata stories are intermixed with the rest of my stories--alt.dbs ON] If you need further assistance, just whistle. Until then..." Silverleaf disappears up a tree and into the forest canopy.

©1998-2002 by Scott Bernier.

Copyright violators will be pelted to death with walnuts and the
remains divided among Fudd Scientists, devilbunny mentats and the
War of Four for experimentation!

1.--Please note that the 'Oakhurst Tab' is for story purposes only. Don't try this in real life!