Tales on the Wind
The Twenty Fifth of Elnu-hamba [Elnu Descendent] Year 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)
Before any more words are spoken you hustle everyone away from the stones and their strange guardian. Truth be told you would rather not be overheard by the 'guide' you had been sent. Alas, you could not afford to offer insult and did not know how sharp those small ears might be.
As good as a rabbit's, a pheasant's? In the end you resolve not to ask anything you did wish to be carried back to the man in the well. You had questions about those you were hunting, questions about the land from which they had sprung, but first....
Getting Jean back on his horse had been a struggle, the beast was not used to carrying dead weight about and he is very bit as willful as his master when it comes to attempts to lead him down the hill. Somehow you manage to get down the other side of it and by the time you reach the bottom the brisk night air had even revived Jean enough to speak and one hopes to listen.
"I've heard it said that God protects fools and children. Is that how you wish to live your life, Jean, relying on God to keep you safe rather than your own good sense?" Your shoulders are still tense, expecting some blow from the blue and from the looks of them Nico and Henri are not doing much better, though it is anyone's guess what Tam is thinking.
"I don't know what came over me, my lord. It was as if my limbs were moving on their own, caught in the web o' some spell..."
You glance at Inge, the question clear in your manner.
Was he enchanted, did the spirit entrap you all?
The girl shrugs helplessly, looking a little angry at herself you think. "Wasn't looking when he rode off, but if he was the water watcher took it off quick."
"Even if that is so a strong mind can cast off any enchantment," you reply to Jean, hoping and praying by all the Saints and Angels that it is true.
"Yes milord," he gives the expected answer, though you could not say how much he believes you. Perhaps if fate is kind you shall not have to test his will thus again, but you doubt any of you shall be so lucky.
Not long after you find a secluded hollow for Nico to take Jean into", charging the younger man to guard his wounded comrade but sooner hide from peril he must than fight if he should meet it.
***
As bay leaf scented shadows grow long and thick the conversation turns to the Inaurna Empire. Of them Inge has many tales, from their great galleons with horned prows which sail up and down the coast of what must be Africa collecting tribute from all the cities of the green lands and even from the nomads of the desert who followed the herds. Supposedly their armies were rich in bronze and their merchants rich in gold, but Inge's tales are filled with the exploits of Anwa captains managing to raid imperial ships and cities, and by clever gambit trick imperial officials. You get the sense that much of that is exaggeration if not outright legend. In a sense what you are doing is a bit like asking a fisher's girl in Caen about the workings of the Holy Roman Empire and its court.
Still you can tease out a few answers from the girl's tales, for one the Emperor in Oromo holds in his hand far more power than the kings of the Anwari, ruling as he doe by decree through the hand of what you can only call 'nobles of the quill', officials named not by deeds in battle or by bonds of blood and oath but by some kind of... test or examination. Inge is not really clear on the details. It reminds you a bit of the tales you have heard of the court in Constantinople, though given that you had heard those as rumor floating around the staging camps in Cyprus you might be grasping at straws here.
When she speaks of the magic of the southerners though Inge's voice takes on a somewhat firmer manner for these are things her master had taught her before his death. The Inaurna Emperor, whom they call the Son of Heaven, Lord of the Four Corners and Master of all upon the Earth, as well as many other high and proud names, is also the high priest of Elnu, god of the heavens and of fate. "They say their emperor is the son of the sons of Elnu, his line given lordship over the earth. They say he sees all in his realm and many leagues beyond it, what is, what was and what will."
"That is a rather bold statement," you note drily. You had seen enough strange things since coming to this land that you would not be overly amazed to witness someone who could see things far off or some things that are to be, but the folk here are still mortal men under Heaven. You do not think any of them would know all that.
"Ilfa said the same," the girl replies and for once the mention of her master does not bring a sad look in her eye but a giggle on her lips. "Oracle priests see far, but the sky does not know what moves in the depths of the sea."
"Not the woods either," Irieje pipes up boldly. "No mortal man can know our hearts or guess our minds no matter how mighty they pray to the Great Ones..."
Great ones... wait, wasn't that what Inge had called dragons this morning? Elnu certainly did not seem to be a dragon from what little Zaia and then Inge had explained about him. "Why do you say that?" you ask the strange guide cautiously.
The caution is rather wasted. The little sprite seems to enjoy the sound of her own voice far too much to be quiet now that you have given her your attention. The real struggle is keeping her on any sort of track. "Sorcerer poets dream in verse, verse from dreams unquiet rise. Who sleeps evermore neath stone, who dreams of eternity bound in coils of stone?"
"What sort of powers does this sorcerer have?" you try to reel her in as best you can, shaking off an uneasy shiver at the words.
"Power of song and power of slumber, do not heed his voice, for it can sent to slumber even those who sleep only with the land..." she cuts herself off, head twitching to look ahead along the path you had taken. "We are close... time to show your work man of iron."
You do not see any wisp of smoke against the stars ahead, no glow of flames. "How far?" you ask pulling on silver's reigns.
"Just over the gully here, a dark camp, they did not wish to be seen, but we saw them, we knew them..." the tiny laugh echoes strangely among the stones, seeming to grow louder for a moment rather than softer.
How do you approach the camp of the Imperials?
[] Afoot, as stealthy as you can
[] Ride swift and true, try to take it by storm
[] Write in
OOC: You rolled really poorly when talking to the guide so you got less useful information than you might have, but on the plus side Inge did as well as she could on the untrained knowledge check.
