Game Date: 29 Harvestmonth-1 Leaffall, 994 KC; Play Date: 1/6/2001
29 Harvestmonth: Laylah asked Al-Zaki whether they should warn the Ranae of what they carry. He thought that might be a good idea. He then remembered that this was the time of year for the equinox festival, when the tribes gathered at Rana. One of the chief seekers of the Ranae, Iztok, would certainly be there. Laylah and Darra recalled that the equinox was holy to the Celestians (Tovanira in particular), but that it was also a sacred day for Shulkor.
The Asanos was passed to Naima, and they continued upstream towards Rana, happy to be near trees and water again. During the afternoon, were hailed by a Ranae hunter. The man knew Glaxis [Al-Zaki], and agreed to go ahead to tell Iztok that they wished to speak with him. Glaxis claimed to see signs of many people going towards Rana, but the others could not see what he did.
That night, Naima dreamed again. She was in a forest, and heard the noise of a horse now and then, from different directions. The sound came closer, so she climbed a tree. She saw the horse's red eyes approach the tree and circle. Puffs of smoke came up through the branches, so she pulled a cloth over her face. After a moment of quiet, she heard a branch being pulled down then released. She dimly saw something climbing upward, so drew her knives. The snake came toward her, but her thrown knife went through it as if it were smoke. She waved her other knife to try to disperse it, but felt a sharp pain in her hand and woke. Her hand had no puncture, but angry red lines radiated out from it. She sliced across the mark and sucked out the probable venom as best she could, then bandaged the wound.
30 Harvestmonth (waxing half moon): Naima showed her hand to the others. Ruqayyah lacked magic to treat poison, to left the wound alone. They continued onward, going slowly so that Naima could avoid letting the poison course too quickly through her. [She is Resistant to Poison, so has little fear of deadly harm.]
Around noon, a doe showed herself ahead of the party. It approached and when it saw Glaxis, changed into the seeker Eskildes (wife of Vodo, their host in Rana), and she called her brother Ildiko to her. Glaxis explained that they carried "a strange, alien magic item," and wished Iztok to know about it before risking bringing it among the Ranae. Eskildes went to take this message, while Ildiko escorted the party to a place just outside the village.
Recalling Ildiko's herb-lore, Naima showed him her hand. He agreed it was poison, tried to use his magic to treat it, but was unable to cure it. Ruqayyah asked what he had done, and he explained that the Tolae's [Ranae gods'] servants could learn to heal and perform other magics. He asked if she was a "seeker"; Laylah and Darra answered "yes" for her, and explained her cat features, which she had not been trying to hide in some time. (Because Darra had once commented that she liked them, and Ruqayyah desperately wanted Darra to survive hunting Taroq, Ruqayyah had stopped wearing her veils for this journey into the Outlands. She has continued to keep this vow in spite of her discomfort at feeling like "a hussy" by showing her face.) Darra asked Ildiko whether shapeshifting was a spell as well. He replied that his sister used magic; the Ranae had tales of natural shapeshifters, but he knew none himself. When Darra mentioned the Celestian Church's "Were-Hunters," he replied that the Ranae had been persecuted for being different. They bore no ill-will towards those who worked within the natural order of things; those who work against it are avoided, or if that is impossible, resisted.
After a few hours, they reached a clearing. An old man sat on a log here, surrounded by a ring of a dozen hunters. The seated man was tall and thin, had very long white hair, and wore a headdress with dozens of feathers in many colors. His beaded collar was covered with the frog and lotus designs of the Tolae, and his long gnarled staff was decorated with flowers and feathers. Glaxis knelt and greeted Iztok, stating that his friends were seekers from another land who wished to speak with him about the item they carried. He asked that this discussion be among seekers only, for now; Iztok motioned his escort out of earshot, then said, "Sit. Speak."
Laylah tried her best to briefly explain what the Asanos was, how it had been lost and how they had found it, and that after speaking with her goddess, she had resolved to return with it for it to be cleansed. She had asked her goddess for protection, but does not know how strong those wards are, and wished to warn him rather than bring this chaos among them unannounced (especially with one of the corrupting gods empowered on this date). Naima added that bad dreams plagued the carrier, and showed her hand to him. He examined her hand, and the still-wrapped Asanos. After some thought, he declared that the evil was contained, but imperfectly. He asked Laylah to tell him more of the Power she serves, and what she understood as Her purpose in revealing Herself to Laylah. Laylah described her introduction to her gifts and goddess, and explain that Rashira stood for things Laylah herself found important (truth, peace, compassion), and that she wished to help others understand those things. Iztok approved of her answer. He stated that they were welcome to visit Rana, and need only ask for whatever help they needed while here, as long as they camped in this clearing and did not bring this evil thing within the village.
Iztok then asked the others about themselves, and whether they too were "seekers." Darra stated that she was a werehorse and a priestess of Kuldor/Klur, and answered some questions about her mission to the badlands. Naima was no seeker, but only came to help kill the necromancer and protect her friends. Ruqayyah claimed to not yet be a seeker, only just learning, and tried to describe how Jin-Mubik was like and yet unlike Rashira. Iztok then took his leave, inviting them to participate in the festival, and leaving Ildiko to construct a shelter for them using his plant spells. During the night, they occasionally heard music and chanting coming from the direction of the village.
Laylah kept the Asnos with her. She dreamed that she woke in the clearing, beside the shelter. The party's gear was there, but she was alone, the forest was quiet, and the Asanos was not in her pouch. She moved to the center of the clearing, praying to know whether she was awake or dreaming. She heard hooves as the horse reached the edge of the clearing. It came towards her at a slow walk. She called "stop," but they approached until they were a mere 5' away. She began to sing (to herself, not aloud) about the dawn. The snake showed itself, and climbed down to the ground. It came nearer, and Laylah prayed for protection while looking up at the sky. She heard a slither as the snake began to circle her. She started to sing aloud. The stars grew brighter, but the snake hissed, and the noise rapidly grew louder. She heard what sounded like many snakes hissing and slithering around her feet. She woke rather shaken, so walked a short distance across the clearing to dance to her own humming until she calmed down.
1 Leaffall (Samhain; Autumnal Equinox): An increase in the noise from Rana shortly before dawn woke the others. They discussed Laylah's dream over breakfast. She thinks he is trying to scare her, but that it can't touch her; she's unsure why, or whether the others have the same protection. Darra grew worried that he was incorporating more of their surroundings into the dreams. She volunteered to guard the Asanos while others went to see the dawn rituals. Ruqayyah stayed behind to practice her spells. Laylah and Naima donned their gift-robes from the Cat Tribe, and Glaxis led them into Rana just as the sun was rising.
A huge crowd had gathered around the ring of standing stones. Dancers and musicians were within, including Iztok himself, who was playing an instrument and wearing a mantle of feathers (most of which were white). Laylah noticed some dancers in waterfowl costumes and tried to mimic them. These dancers and the strangely-familiar white cloak made her very homesick. When the dawn dance finished, Glaxis went on an errand of his own, leaving Laylah and Naima to look about the village.
The two women returned to camp in the late morning so that the others could go see the noon dance. Ruqayyah decided to wait for the sunset dance, so Laylah went back to the village with Darra. Sometime after their return, Ruqayyah tried her owl spell again, this time while in cat form. She managed a partial success this time--growing feathers all over, which promptly vanished--after which the others laughed and then congratulated her.
Ruqayyah found Glaxis to tell him about the feathers, then finished preparing to go to the sunset dance (bathing, combing out hair, dressing in her Cat gift-robe). Darra and Glaxis accompanied her to the dance, and Darra begged him to lift her up for a while, so she could see. As the rather colorful sunset began, some of the dancers lit torches and flaming batons. Ruqayyah attracted much notice, but most of the Ranae remained politely aloof. Many small children followed to stare, however. She talked with some of them after the dance, answering some of their questions and promising to shapeshift for them tomorrow morning.
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This page last revised 3/5/2001. | Copyright 2001 Timothy E. Emrick. | time@sluggy.net