You are Governor Flynn Ryder of Preisdorf and you are up to your calves in greenery as you stray a winding path onward through the brush, ferns and other things verdant while trying your best to follow Rapunzel's assuredly graceful steps, following the marks of traders to the Centorean's latest clearing of the week, for the nomadic taurics rarely stay in one spot for more than three days in a row.
Truly these were strange times for an Empire settlement in finding such visibly inhuman friends, more strange in appearance than even the beardliest dwarf or craggiest ogre. What perplexed many though was the vast differences in their concepts of nationhood.
The Centoreans heeded councils and not kings, saw territory only in terms of 'ranges' and 'glades', with each nomadic group laying claim to little land beyond the space beneath their tents at any given time.
Their glades were communal, their ranges shared equally as they migrated constantly to ward the woods over which they held stewardship and guardian status, following the whispers of jungle spirits to ensure that they always had plenty in exchange for protection over the sacred spaces. Ranges were merely markers of migratory paths, less borders and more the extent of their normal travelling. Their only stationary holdings were the heartglades, sacred spaces beholden to none and open to all, and their muster-glades in which the groups met to ally for war or defense.
All of this had been shared in previous chats with Elenia or passing centorean traders, and yet it still amazes you, the concept of a stateless state, a nation without true borders or bureacracy. Though you understand this style of living is not without strife, for some centorean bands had taken advantage of the system in efforts to establish supremacy before, and their communally shared way of life only functioned so long as they all worked, shared and moderated themselves to keep resources stable. This included effort to keep the spirits of the jungle on their side, hard as that task ever was, for it was only with their guidance that the centoreans maintain an equilibrium.
You step into the clearing to find the centaur engaging in this odd governance with debate, circles of those not on guard arguing back and forth whilst a sentry marks your presence with a wave and a beckoning hand, her feathered lance and painted stripes of blue marking her as a sqquad leader. You are pointed toward Elenia's enormous tent, one from which smoke coils as if in expectation of your purpose. You and your lover enter the space to find yourselves swamped in the scent of incense and flowers, though a soft breeze keeps the intensity down below the edge of discomfort.
"Governor Flynn, Student Rapunzel. You are here to join Stone-Ward Eli in calm-smoke, yes?" Elenia speaks riekspiel without the cheating of her magic, accent rough yet words understandable due to sessions with your Caledor of language, Pandora. The name 'Eli' with its title makes your eyebrow cock for the only other person in the tent seems to be your Advisor of Intrigue, Else, looking sheepish inside her volumnious robes. Elenia seems immune to the tension as she pours out welcoming drinks of averland cider for you both, seeming to have picked up a taste for the stuff to judge by the six other kegs stacked up in a corner.
"Guv'nr" the probably albish woman speaks in an accent that makes her sound on the verge of sneezing, her nervous smile making you return one just to put the muscled woman at ease. She shuffles to make room as you and Rapunzel sit to her right, Elenia refilling the enormous and ornate 'Bo-Ong' with fresh dreamweed while you consider how best to finally end this farce with 'Else'.
Being blunt seems best, considering you're likely to be stoned soon, so you simply sigh before turning in place to address her.
"So. You're Albish, no?"
'Else' flinches as if you'd just shot her in the ribs when you ask so brazenly, yet it seems the drugs she has already taken are enough to stop her rabbiting or closing up, barely. She instead just nods, shrinking like a violet on fire before you raise a hand then speak with reassurance.
"I have a luccinian, two elves and an ogress on my council, not even to mention that lunatic wizard. You're not being fired or arrested for impersonating an imperial, nor for being odd."
'Else' nods as she accepts this seemingly at face value, speaking with that same thick-throated accent again.
"The visions told me that I would be discovered soon... Smoke, flames, the scent of fur... I thought it meant more hostile things. I am glad that I am wrong. My name is Eli, by the way. Eli Dugan..."
You nod and relax back a little when Elenia passes over the laden bo-ong for your toke, Rapunzel taking up the burden of this exceedingly calm interrogation.
"So... Why lie? Albion is odd as a birthplace, yet we have Branwen already do we not?"
Eli takes a moment to answer in which she seems to stare beyond infinity through the lens of her own cider mug, swirling the liquid before she croaks.
"Shadows follow me from the misted isle... I even had to befuddle my own escort, for their every naming of my true title drew in the hungry dark. Only once past the great ocean could I be sure of losing this curse, praise be Manaan, Mathlaan, Medhe and whomsoever heard my prayers of cleansing."
Eli takes in a long drink before she continues, Elenia rubbing her back with concern that you share. What things had crawled in pursuit of this woman? Hungry Dark? Such a name makes you shiver even to think it, especially with the haunted look upon Eli's face.
The albish woman continues.
"I came to align the stones... To right the circles, and make whole the lines by which the eyes of light might burn back the dark which now subsumes the mists... For the stones we seek are not just rocks but channels of magic."
Rapunzel breathes something under her breath, only to quieten as Eli takes in a deep toke before speaking in a smoother tone.
"I know it sounds... Unreal... Yet it is truth that the ogham and menhir have been around since before the rise of the elves or even human nations. This is told by our oldest speakers and the ancient writings of our giants, though the nature of the stones original builders has been lost to the mists of time" Eli slurps her cider after speaking.
Rapunzel seems stunned by the revelation or simply the thought of Eli's claim, and you think that between the drugs and her unique worldview your lover is perhaps the only high elf alive who would not find some offense at the idea of a human thing being older than any elf.
The bo-ong goes around the circle twice more before anyone speaks, as Eli sinks her head backward into the embrace of Elenia's chest and cuddles, your own hand curling around Rapunzel's shoulders to stroke her collarbone. The smoke makes your head swim pleasantly in a way that little else has ever done, your senses seeming a little detached from yourself in a dreamlike state that simultaneously seems to fuzz and heighten them. Rapunzel's neck feels like satin as you brush your lips against it, her breath tickling like a fuzzy brush as she hums against your temple.
Part 1 of 2(?). Posting this now because I must sleep.
