@DragonParadox, editing:
Fifth day of the Festival of the Snapdragon 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)
It would have bee too much to hope that Ulk had not been a thief as well as a would be assassin, the crescent talisman had been found among his bloody rags and taken at once by the chief's mother Oka who had recognized it... though not merely for some piece of her lost granddaughter it seems. "Not for you to look at men of the south, not for your hands to touch," she had said at first, and something of the words echoed strangely in the ear. Though you had heard suspicion aplenty to strangers from all manner of folk that does not seem to be it, or at lest not the whole of it.
Hoping you had guessed aright and do not overstep you ask: "Is is because we are strangers or because we are men?"
She looks surprised, but only for a moment before the scowl descends again. "Moon's ways are woman''s ways. Go now, prepare for war, dawn is close."
About five hours closer than it had been when you had gone to the chief's hut, your weary body is quick to inform you. Far from a restful sleep, but as much as you could manage with so much upon your mind, from Inge's request to the threat of again slaying those whom you might have left in peace were it not for the machinations of dark powers.
"Perhaps I should ask for it," Esha offers, yet even in the soft spell-whisper you can hear the doubt.
"No," you send back resigned at last to another course. Turning back to Oka, most respected of the Danuk and closest they have to a leader this day you say plainly and without artifice. "Do you know the dark haired girl who was with us when we came upon the fiend, the one who was wounded by his hand? Her name is Inge and she has lived perhaps ten years upon this earth. If you do not give us that talisman to look upon then the only other way to find the truth of what might have happened in these lands is for her to descend into the Cave of Waters, though the fire priest fears that she will be in peril from that which dwells therein, one sworn to chill powers of the sea in a place of flame. If you will not give it to Moru then give it to her at least."
The old woman looks you up and down, her craggy face unreadable as if carved from the weathered stone of these hills, then without another word she takes out a small bundle wrapped in soft leather from the folds of her fox-fur cloak.
You speak words of parting to the silent air, and only when you are about to leave does she speak. "Always there are two who speak to the spirits, one man and one woman, one young one old. When the Fire Keeper dies the Moon Woman helps to train a new one and when the Moon Woman dies the Fire Keeper trains a new one, different but entwined. She..." It is clear the word stands in the place of a name Oka cannot bear to speak, sorrow and anger mingling in a bitter brew. "Fled one night into the dark, fled from her duty and her people and now she is dead."
There are more questions you might ask, but one look back makes it clear sorrow runs too deep for answers here.
Inge unwraps the crescent carefully and holds it in the light again. "I don't think it's magic, but it was maybe made by magic..."
"It was made as a vessel for power," the priest says. "To channel the soul of its bearer, but not to hold it, as the riverbanks hold the rushing waters, but perhaps in the shape of that which is not here we might read the truth of its nature." The fire in his eyes grows, brighter... no deeper, not embers but deep wells of flame that lead to some secret place. "I think I know what this is meant to do and if I am right it was fortunate indeed to have found it."
"What is it then?" Esha sounds a touch peeved that she had not been able to read anything off the talisman, though that might just be the disordering of her schedule. Sleeping hours through in the dark of the night is as strange to her as to you doing the same at midday, yet needs must if you are to all be awake and able to fight with the first light.
"A key, to allow the bearer, moon-sworn to speak to the Child of Inoko, perhaps to introduce the shaman who will take up the tending of the fire when the moon is the elder and the flame the younger."
"So the girl ran with an heirloom without which the traditions of her people would have been broken..." you trail off. No wonder her father had been so angry, and so reluctant to explain himself. "She brought it to a meeting with a Wyrdoki youth of high birth and then they were both killed, by Neverborn we judge by the manner of their deaths, but why?"
"Hollow things that scorn the light even as they are jealous of it will often kill without more cause than joy in the deed," Ziku offers grimly, but his brother shakes his head sharply.
"No, this was done with a purpose, they wanted to stop her reaching the Wyrdoki..." His eyes widen in sudden suspicion. "Or to stop her fleeing to sanctuary."
It takes you only a moment to follow the thread of his thought. You had assumed the elder shaman had been a victim of the Neverborn, but in a way so too had Ulk been a victim, to die by their foul power alone does not an innocent make. Perhaps the old shaman was the source of the corruption and the Wyrdoki are not wholly wrong in their fears.
"Do you still think the spirit is untainted?" you ask bluntly.
"I am not certain..." He sighs. "There are two paths before us once more, we can seek to warn our hosts of this new revelation or go into the hill and see what there must be seen. At least we have some ward against it now should things go ill."
What do you do?
[] Go to Oka with his new suspicion, the Danuk deserve to know the danger that might be upon them
[] Descent into the Cave of Waters as planned, you do not know enough to make such an accusation
[] Write in
OOC: Your diplo rolls continue to seesaw from one end to the other. Moru got some decent knowledge rolls as well. Not yet edited.
A Glimmer in the Dark
Fifth day of the Festival of the Snapdragon 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)
It would have bee too much to hope that Ulk had not been a thief as well as a would be assassin, the crescent talisman had been found among his bloody rags and taken at once by the chief's mother Oka who had recognized it... though not merely for some piece of her lost granddaughter it seems. "Not for you to look at men of the south, not for your hands to touch," she had said at first, and something of the words echoed strangely in the ear. Though you had heard suspicion aplenty to strangers from all manner of folk that does not seem to be it, or at lest not the whole of it.
Hoping you had guessed aright and do not overstep you ask: "Is is because we are strangers or because we are men?"
She looks surprised, but only for a moment before the scowl descends again. "Moon's ways are woman''s ways. Go now, prepare for war, dawn is close."
About five hours closer than it had been when you had gone to the chief's hut, your weary body is quick to inform you. Far from a restful sleep, but as much as you could manage with so much upon your mind, from Inge's request to the threat of again slaying those whom you might have left in peace were it not for the machinations of dark powers.
"Perhaps I should ask for it," Esha offers, yet even in the soft spell-whisper you can hear the doubt.
"No," you send back resigned at last to another course. Turning back to Oka, most respected of the Danuk and closest they have to a leader this day you say plainly and without artifice. "Do you know the dark haired girl who was with us when we came upon the fiend, the one who was wounded by his hand? Her name is Inge and she has lived perhaps ten years upon this earth. If you do not give us that talisman to look upon then the only other way to find the truth of what might have happened in these lands is for her to descend into the Cave of Waters, though the fire priest fears that she will be in peril from that which dwells therein, one sworn to chill powers of the sea in a place of flame. If you will not give it to Moru then give it to her at least."
The old woman looks you up and down, her craggy face unreadable as if carved from the weathered stone of these hills, then without another word she takes out a small bundle wrapped in soft leather from the folds of her fox-fur cloak.
You speak words of parting to the silent air, and only when you are about to leave does she speak. "Always there are two who speak to the spirits, one man and one woman, one young one old. When the Fire Keeper dies the Moon Woman helps to train a new one and when the Moon Woman dies the Fire Keeper trains a new one, different but entwined. She..." It is clear the word stands in the place of a name Oka cannot bear to speak, sorrow and anger mingling in a bitter brew. "Fled one night into the dark, fled from her duty and her people and now she is dead."
There are more questions you might ask, but one look back makes it clear sorrow runs too deep for answers here.
***
Inge unwraps the crescent carefully and holds it in the light again. "I don't think it's magic, but it was maybe made by magic..."
"It was made as a vessel for power," the priest says. "To channel the soul of its bearer, but not to hold it, as the riverbanks hold the rushing waters, but perhaps in the shape of that which is not here we might read the truth of its nature." The fire in his eyes grows, brighter... no deeper, not embers but deep wells of flame that lead to some secret place. "I think I know what this is meant to do and if I am right it was fortunate indeed to have found it."
"What is it then?" Esha sounds a touch peeved that she had not been able to read anything off the talisman, though that might just be the disordering of her schedule. Sleeping hours through in the dark of the night is as strange to her as to you doing the same at midday, yet needs must if you are to all be awake and able to fight with the first light.
"A key, to allow the bearer, moon-sworn to speak to the Child of Inoko, perhaps to introduce the shaman who will take up the tending of the fire when the moon is the elder and the flame the younger."
"So the girl ran with an heirloom without which the traditions of her people would have been broken..." you trail off. No wonder her father had been so angry, and so reluctant to explain himself. "She brought it to a meeting with a Wyrdoki youth of high birth and then they were both killed, by Neverborn we judge by the manner of their deaths, but why?"
"Hollow things that scorn the light even as they are jealous of it will often kill without more cause than joy in the deed," Ziku offers grimly, but his brother shakes his head sharply.
"No, this was done with a purpose, they wanted to stop her reaching the Wyrdoki..." His eyes widen in sudden suspicion. "Or to stop her fleeing to sanctuary."
It takes you only a moment to follow the thread of his thought. You had assumed the elder shaman had been a victim of the Neverborn, but in a way so too had Ulk been a victim, to die by their foul power alone does not an innocent make. Perhaps the old shaman was the source of the corruption and the Wyrdoki are not wholly wrong in their fears.
"Do you still think the spirit is untainted?" you ask bluntly.
"I am not certain..." He sighs. "There are two paths before us once more, we can seek to warn our hosts of this new revelation or go into the hill and see what there must be seen. At least we have some ward against it now should things go ill."
What do you do?
[] Go to Oka with his new suspicion, the Danuk deserve to know the danger that might be upon them
[] Descent into the Cave of Waters as planned, you do not know enough to make such an accusation
[] Write in
OOC: Your diplo rolls continue to seesaw from one end to the other. Moru got some decent knowledge rolls as well. Not yet edited.
