Following the "Quest for Fire" Quiz

The Ulam live a hard life focused on survival. They spend their days searching for food, protecting themselves from wild animals, and staying safe from other groups of people. They live together in a natural cave shelter and depend on one another for protection, communicating simply using mostly sounds, gestures, and facial expressions.

Fire is the most important thing they possess. It keeps them warm, provides light, helps cook food, and scares away predators. Because they do not know how to make fire, they guard it constantly and carry it with great care wherever they go. Losing the fire would put the entire tribe in danger, so protecting it is one of their most important daily responsibilities.

However, having fire also makes the Ulam a target for other 'people' groups. One such are the Wagubu, who appear very ape-like and covered with fur. They attack the Ulam tribe brutally, and many are killed on both sides. The surviving Ulam flee (being harassed by scavenging wolves along the way) into a marsh, where they huddle on an island.

The keeper of the sacred flame manages to escape the Wagubu attack, eventually finding the rest of his people in the marsh. Unfortunately, despite all efforts, the small ember loses its spark, and the Ulam tribe find themselves not only decimated from the attack, but now also bereft of the important tool of fire. Their chances of survival are grim.

After the tribe loses its fire, everyone becomes worried. They know they cannot survive for long without it. The strongest warriors are chosen to search for a new source of fire, formally being presented with the (now cold) fire pot. The tribe gathers around them and watches as they prepare to leave.

The three warriors (Naoh, Gaw, and Amoukar) set out into the wilderness carrying their weapons and meagre supplies. The tribe watches them disappear into the distance, hoping they will succeed and bring back the fire needed for everyone's survival.

Naoh was portrayed by Everett McGill, Gaw by Nicholas Kadi, and Amoukar by Ron Perlman.

It is a somewhat humorous situation that finds the three warriors almost immediately coming to the attention of a couple of sabre-toothed tigers... and only one scrawny tree in sight. The three warriors scramble up the tree, stepping on each other in the process, and have to perch there for quite some time.

In the middle of the night, one of the warriors (Amoukar) falls out of the tree and in a panic climbs back up again, only to discover that the sabre-toothed tigers had departed, giving up on their prey.

After stumbling across a firepit and evidence of charred human remains, the warriors decide to try to steal fire from the dangerous cannibal tribe. After scouting out their encampment overnight, the three warriors engage in a clever assault, using two to draw away most of the cannibals while the leader (Naoh) sneaks in to grab a firebrand.

Unfortunately, not all the Kzamma chase the decoys, and Naoh must fight two strong cannibals who stay behind. He manages to kill them both, but not without taking an injury as one of the cannibals manages to bite him in the groin area before Naoh kills him.

Using the attack as an opportunity, one of the captives of the cannibals manages to make her escape, and after witnessing the brave assault by the Ulam warriors, begins to follow them.

Ika (portrayed by Rae Dawn Chong) was one of the captives of the Kzamm cannibals, awaiting a gruesome fate. While the three warriors didn't actually do anything to help the captives, the young woman was able to free herself during the fighting. Soon after, she is spotted following the three warriors, who try to frighten her away and throw rocks at her.

She is persistent, however, and when the leader Naoh is forced to rest because of his injury, Ika slowly approaches and helps him with 'advanced technology' - creating a poultice of plants and mud to help his injury to heal. After that, she is accepted by the group and stays with them as they continue to travel.

The night after their raid on the cannibals and the successful theft of their fire, the three warriors and Ika make a big bonfire and sleep warmly. But this choice was foolhardy, as the cannibals find them in the morning, surrounding their encampment with seemingly no escape.

Just as the cannibals begin to attack, they are scared away. The warriors think it is because of their blustering and posturing, but then Ika draws their attention to look behind them, where they find a large herd of woolly mammoths. Thankful for the reprieve, Naoh approaches the lead mammoth, bowing to it and offering it a large tuft of grass. The mammoths then let the warriors and Ika pass before chasing after the Kzamm.

During their second night with fire, Naoh stakes his claim as the strongest of the three warriors, and he copulates with Ika. This leads to a connection that derails their mission. When Ika leaves them the next day, rather than leaving her behind and returning home with their captured fire, Naoh chooses to follow Ika.

Naoh (along with his two reluctant compatriots) follows Ika's trail to the territory of her tribe, the Ivaka. Along the way he discovers constructed mud huts and pottery... which he looks on in wonder. As he crosses mud flats towards a community of such huts he ends up getting caught in a quicksand quagmire.

His cries for help draw the attention of the tribespeople, and at first they simply cavort around him and pelt him with rocks and sticks, but Ika is there to plead on his behalf, and he is pulled from the quagmire and brought to the village.

In the Ivaka tribal village, the leaders are very impressed with Naoh's strength and physique, and he is given a feast and provided with a lineup of hefty women to copulate with (in an effort to strengthen the tribal bloodlines). Watching from the shadows, Ika is seen to be sad and upset about this, and in the middle of the night she tries to join him in his 'chamber'. The leaders simply chase her off - she is not a good choice to make strong babies.

In the morning, as a reward for his services, Naoh is shown how to make fire using a spinning staff. With this knowledge, his people will no longer be at the whims of nature (or in conflict with others) for acquiring fire!

No longer willing to wait, Gaw and Amoukar enter the Ivaka village the next night and pull their leader out of his mud hut (and steal a bunch of their weapons - stone-tipped spears and atlatls). Ika sees them doing this and is quick to follow, joining them for their journey home (still with the fire pot and living flame).

As the warriors (and Iva) approach the Ulam tribal territory, they are approached by rival warriors who want to steal the fire pot and claim the glory. In an effort to avoid them, they initially look for shelter in a cave, but encounter a bear cub and an angry cave bear in the process. Gaw is gravely injured, but he saves Iva from harm in the process.

The party continues on, but are once again accosted by the other tribesmen. Even outnumbered, Naoh and Amoukar are able to fight them off, using the advanced Ivaka weapons.

When they arrive back at the marsh and their tribe, everyone is overjoyed to see them, and the fire pot is passed around with jubilation... until the original keeper of the sacred flame takes the fire pot and promptly falls into the marsh with it, extinguishing the flames.

At first the tribe is despondent, but then Naoh 'speaks' to them all, and shows them the fire-making tools. He attempts to show them how to make fire, but is unable to do so... until Ika steps forward and helps, doing it more efficiently and managing to start a fire.

At last, the quest is truly complete, and our hero Naoh finds himself soon to be a father as well, as Iva is revealed to be pregnant in the final scene of the film.