To make a long (14 day) story short, you ride with the assortment
of nomads into Pavis county on Day 40 of Earth Season, almost one full season
after you left (roughly 7 weeks really, not 8).
Along the way the nomads have little interest in speaking to most
of you; you are along for the ride and they doubt you'll stay with them long,
plus they have their families, beasts, and clan to worry about in the first
place. You camp on the outskirts of
their encampments each night and they mingle little. The storm bulls in the group go
into the hills for a day for their High Holy Day celebration (complete with
captive broo and a lunar scout for slaughtering!), with Dorgon.
At Far End, as I'd mentioned, you see little but burnt-out hulks
of tents, buildings, and other semi-permanent structures, and plenty of
scavengers feeding on the remains of the slaughtered. Not a living person there, and from your
vantage point down into the valley it looks like most nearby villages suffered
the same fate. Smoke curls up here and
there where villages and forts used to be; circles of vultures dance across the
sky over carcasses of man and beast.
At night the hideous laughter of hyenas and the flickering of distant
fires and magical bursts are noticeable even during the nomad celebrations. Word already has come of the wonderful
looting that is proceeding, and no nomads seem to be leaving the valley; in
fact you see not a single beast or rider headed the opposite direction as you. All trails seem to be converging on
Pavis.
Elohwyn expresses desires to go to Pairing Stone and see what has
become of her friends, but is uncertain if this is the right course. Groloday listens and tries convincing
her that it is not a good idea, and soon resorts to begging her:
"Elohwyn,
I have been called on a great mission, probably even greater than this last
one, and I have been asked to bring my trusted allies with me to Waterby
Grotto, where our forces gather in secrecy. I have grown to trust you during this
last escapade, although at times you greatly frighten me and I am not sure what
fell thoughts pass through that fire-haired head of yours. I beg of you, come with us, you are one
of the greatest swordswomen in all of Prax and I am sure that skill will be
needed badly. Also, I know little
of what has happened at Pairing Stone of course, but I am certain that there is
nothing there that you can do, despite your great prowess. You will either find nothingness,
desolation, and horror, or you will find The Bat and experience those same things
firsthand. I plead you, put your
worrysome heart in fetters and listen to my words with your razor-edged
mind. We need you now, alive and
with all your dangerous might. A
battle looms and we may have a chance to save Pavis and bring freedom to our
peoples. Will you join us?"
Wow,
I just rolled an 02 for his orate, no joking! He made a compelling story that dripped
with honesty and respect, and Elohwyn is convinced. She puts her worries behind her and sets
out with you for Waterby with renewed focus.
You can arrange trades for beasts (proposals?), then set out south for Waterby. Along the way you pass among the company
of many nomads moving with odd, singleminded determination for Pavis, getting
more and more serious and quiet as they go. Soon all eyes are locked in the
direction of Pavis: beast, man, woman, child, spirit. Everywhere you look in the valley, you
see streams of beast riders headed for Pavis. Storm clouds begin to boil from the
mountains and hills to the north, east, and west, converging on Pavis and
whipping up moist winds, thunder, dust clouds, and here and there crackling air
spirits. But the moon hangs
ominously and defiant above it all, unobscured by storm. In the first day of travel, you begin
seeing more and more surprises among the nomads. Sun-worshipping clans and
storm-worshippers, ancient enemies, camp beside each other with barely a scowl
toward the other. Clans who have
fought feuds since ancient times are seen meeting under peace tents. You are shocked to see sable rider and
impala rider warriors talking together, sharing the nomad greeting and kvass
[fermented milk and blood nomad drink].
Soon you do see entire sable clans camped among others: the other four
great tribal nations of bison, llama, impala, and even the despised morokanth
are seen.
The next day you see this trend even more strongly, and can even
see the hordes around the city of Pavis down the valley from you. You are now threading through nomad
encampments that surround the Pavis area.
You have seen no one but nomads along the way: every fort, village,
stead, or trading post is abandoned, burnt to the ground, looted, and littered
with corpses of Pavis county citizens, Lunars, nomads, and others. The scavengers are the winners here. You have never seen so many vultures,
giant condors from the south, hyenas, and other vermin. The roads are hard to spot amidst the
hundreds of nomad trails that have been cut into the earth by countless
hooves. The last night before you
reach Waterby grotto, as the sun sets and a purple glow from the west casts an
eerie pall on the river valley, you can look down on Pavis and count thousand
upon thousand of camp fires glittering there, and the nomad eyes you see around
you are locked on the walled city ringed by those fires, and those nomad eyes
glitter as well, with anticipation.
Amid the campfires in twilight you see great figures striding here and
there; faint silhouettes of the giant founder totems of the nomads:
bison-headed giants and bipedal rhinos (seen Black & White video game? kinda like that). Blasts of magic: red bolts from Pavis
which is covered by a great crimson dome of magic, lightning bolts from storm
clouds, and dancing spirits or sylph-borne warriors decorate the sky around
Pavis. It seems that all of the
tribes and clans of Prax are here now; how the city of Pavis can still be
standing is a testament to its legendary defenses! The nomads have clearly been leading
assaults on the city for days, and there is no clear way to get into or out of
the city. The Rubble must be filled
with battling nomads and others; a no-man's land.
As you camp alone within sight of the Waterby stream, you lie
awake listening to the sounds of the river valley. Thunder, screams,
hooves beating, the clash of metal all night long. But as Yelm the sun finally
descends into Hell, you hear a sound growing to drown out the other sounds of
the valley. Voices of the nomads
from their campfires, at first scattered and out of synch, but as the hours go
on they find unison and their words are clear, they chant:
"Jal.....don. Jal-don. Jaldon.
Jaldon! JALDON!"
And at the first crack of dawn there is a great cheer among the
nomads who have been chanting all night, and a sea of riders surges around
Pavis. At the western edge of this
surging sea a gap opens and a string of figures, too distant to make out
details, winds its way into the cleft as weapons are pounded on shields in
celebration and the unified nomad tribes of Prax welcome their demigod, Jaldon
Toothmaker, Jaldon Goldentooth, Jaldon the undying hero of Waha atop his
faithful steed he calls Home. As
prophecy proclaimed and as has happened a few times in history, when the tribes
of Prax are at peace, they can will the return of their ancient leader to bring
them to war. And each time, the war
is meant to crumble the walls of Pavis and slay their sworn enemies of the
city.
The battle begins and you watch the amazing drama unfold as you
hurry to Waterby Grotto. Soon it is
out of your sight as you are in the valley near Waterby, but you can hear it
all the way, and its visions are burned into your memories. Waves upon waves of riders, spirits,
giant founders, Oakfed's wildfires, shrieking missiles, and shamanic magics
crash against the walls of Pavis one by one, and are driven back by massive
defensive magics, troops, and fortifications. This won't end quickly, you can tell.
As you reach Waterby grotto you look down river to Waterby and
see a twisted hulk of the town with plumes of old smoke rising delicately from
it, whipped around and then disintegrated by the winds higher up. At the Grotto itself, you finally see
non-nomads peering out from the cave and scanning the sky. A huge green carp was lying on the
shore, and then flops back into the river and swims off as it sees you. There on the shore, the newtling Blu is
wiping fish mucus off him and nibbling on shreds of skin hanging off his
body. He does not look well;
half-digested by the fish perhaps?
[Sami will have an introduction later] Looking at him, and then you, with
illegible amphibian expressions are five one-eyed newtlings with death runes on
their foreheads: the Five of Five Eyes that have grudgingly worked with the
River Voices before. You see
no one else around.
Inside the Grotto you meet an old ally, Miloh the Shrewd, who is
dressed in his typical dark grey cloak with a hood that lets his grizzled grey
beard stick out. Sternly, he looks
you over and says,
"Worse for wear but we'll work with it. Friends, I have a lot of explaining to
do but we are in a rush. Hurry in
and wash up; we're not here for long.
I'll talk and we'll keep talking once we move."