Ryli looks down at the halfling walking on air behind her. She rubs her eyes and slows her pace to allow her to catch up.
"You don't really have to help, you know. Now that the creature is gone, hopefully the storm will lift and Olympus will be able to hear me calling him."
She puts two fingers to her mouth and whistles loudly. Then she turns back to Zoli. "But thank you, though."
Olympus screeches quickly in response, and is surprisingly close.
Not wanting to lose them to the winds, Jeevika quickly but carefully takes the ledger pages and puts them in her haversack. A bit exhausted by the events of the day, she opts to wait with Eugeni and Elthariel while Zoli and Ryli go look for Olympus.
"Eugeni, you said that the Wendigo did something to you, right? In that case, I'll see what I can do about it in a few hours. I pray for spells around the same time as Ryli: dawn. You might have noticed us meditating together."
Upon hearing Olympus's screech, Ryli breaks into a gallop towards the sound.
Ryli quickly finds not only Olympus a short distance from the cabin, but also Titanicus, the ship, and the centaur outriders. She throws her arms around Olympus's neck, hugging him tightly and choking back a sob.
After a few moments, she whistles to have Olympus follow her. She gallops back to the cabin to report how close the ship is. "Eugeni, Jeevika! Elthariel! The ship isn't far away! Come on, let's leave this accursed place," she coaxes.
"Actually, I'll need... about thirty more minutes before we leave. I left important something in the snow."
Whether it's Eugeni's Mansion or the airship, Jeevika finds a calm place to meditate and takes fifteen minutes to fill her last open big spell slot with Locate Object. She then casts the spell - focusing on her Bountiful Bottle - and then departs into the snow with Elthariel, who proves very able at navigating the terrain. As an extra layer of security, they share Setsuna's Ring of Invisibility to hide themselves from any possible trouble and hold hands to avoid getting separated. The duo returns about fifteen or so minutes later with Jeevika's Bountiful Bottle in hand.
"Alright, let's leave."
Ryli hangs on to Olympus like a security blanket while they move back and forth from the cabin to the ship. When finally Eugeni's magnificent mansion is created, she shrinks Olympus into a statue and clutches him like the most precious gemstone, then moves inside the extradimensional space.
She changes forms once out of eyeshot of the centaurs, shrinking down and becoming a beautiful elf maiden. In a daze, she wanders the rooms until she finds one with a bed. She crawls into it and covers herself with the sheets. She begins quietly sobbing to herself.
The following morning, just after the usual time Ryli gets her spells in order, there's a strong knock on her door.
"Ryli?" Jeevika calls out. "We need to talk. Is now a good time?"
Ryli in elven form opens the door and looks at Jeevika with a flat expression. "Sure. Although I thought we were going to take the fight to Karzoug. Shouldn't we do that with all haste?"
"Of course, but I imagine we would have time to talk on the flight to Xin-Shalast. Even Titanicus can only fly so quickly," notes Jeevika. "Anyway, I'll just be direct. Are you feeling well? You've been acting... unusual lately. Very moody."
Ryli stares wide-eyed at Jeevika for a protracted moment. An internal war wages behind her eyes, then at long last, she relents. She sighs, deflates, and looks extremely sad, hugging herself tightly. "I-- maybe, well, maybe everyone should hear this."
She goes into the common room of the magnificent mansion and waits for Eugeni and Zoli to be summoned as well. Ryli hasn't shifted from the young elf she had turned into last night. She grabs a lock of hair and starts nervously twisting it around her fingers as she orders her thoughts.
"Ah, I need to tell you all something. You all know me as Ryli. Or Rilee. Or Riley. Or even Ryllibelle or Rileon. But those lives have all been echoes. Echoes of this." She gestures to the shape she is in now.
"This is what I looked like in my first life. I was Ry’liandralia, an elf long before the Age of Darkness." She turns her head from her companions -- most of them former family members, unable to look at them. "I know now how I came to be a rider of the Wheel."
Her head hangs down, staring into her lap. Her eyes moisten, and she wrings her hands in nervousness. "I was in love. The strongest, most devoted love one could ever feel. And I was a fool." She raises her head once briefly to glance at everyone, but she again drops her eyes and stares at her lap.
"My lover was Zenlan. Our love was forbidden by our houses -- our families, but we would not be deterred. We... made a pact. We joined ourselves to the Wheel in a forbidden ritual. Like I said, we were fools.
"It was so romantic. We would live forever, life after life, loving each other in whatever form the Wheel bade." Tears start to fall from her eyes now. "Zenlan challenged my betrothed. He did not fear death. We were immortal now, like our love. But the elven man who was to be my husband was a seasoned warrior. He slew Zenlan easily."
The shame in Ryli reaches its zenith, and she draws her legs to her chest as she buries her face in her hands. A few sobs escape before she continues. "I followed him into death, by my own hand."
She looks up, eyes red and wet. "I woke into a new life, but Zenlan wasn't there waiting. I searched until that life ended. Then another began. And another, and another. Life after life, dozens, hundreds, and slowly, gradually, I forgot. I never found Zenlan, and eventually, I forgot to keep looking."
More tears cascade down her cheeks and the anguish is plain on her face. "My eternal love was worn away by the continuous cycle of life and death. I forgot. I forgot!"
She takes a moment, crying softly to herself. She looks up again, wiping the tears from her face. "I don't know how to explain it, but we found each other. There was a centaur that had been a foundling. We went to where he was found and I asked the stones who had put him there. But they said no one had -- he appeared, just like a reincarnation! I tried to explain it, and then we touched..."
Ryli shifts unconsciously back to a centaur. "We remembered. In this life, he's Brognar. But he's really Zenlan! We've remembered our love. I've declared him as my mate. We're finally together!"
She takes a deep breath and slows her words. "I came back because Karzoug has to be defeated. He cannot be allowed to awaken. But... for the first time, I'm terrified of dying. I don't want to lose Zenlan again. I don't want to forget again. I miss him so much, which I know seems silly since we've been apart for millennia, but still. If I die, I won't be allowed back into the herd. I love Kallie and want to watch over her, but please understand. This is my love from my first life. I don't want to lose him again."
After a long moment of stunned silence, Jeevika pulls Ryli into a gentle but strong hug.
"...You poor, poor woman," the priestess of Shelyn whispers sympathetically to her grandmother.
Ryli cries quietly in Jeevika's embrace for a while.
After a cathartic period, she stirs finally and regains her feet. She wipes her face and sniffs a few times, trying to compose herself. "Well. I suppose speaking of reincarnation, we should give Lorthan a chance to come back. I've prepared the spell. Would you like to join me?"
Taking the body of Lorthan outside and setting it on a patch of ground, she begins the lengthy spellcasting process. She anoints the corpse with the special oils, then calls out to the Wheel to turn and bring the spirit of Lorthan back.
After the spell is complete, she says softly to Elthariel, "It is done. Now we wait."
As Ryli works her magic, Elthariel stands anxiously to the side. She nods nervously to the druid when she says the spell is done and now it’s just a matter of time.
Earth slowly creeps over the body of the warrior, slowly forming a cocoon over Lorthan’s remains. The magic draws in cold air into the strange structure as it seals shut around him. Slowly, the cocoon looks less like a stone and earth coffin and more like a membranous covering that is too thick to see through. Time and frost slowly creep along its surface as the hour slowly passes.
Then, a small tear forms along the dorsal surface of the cocoon! A strange, fin-like structure pokes through momentarily before returning back beneath the membrane. Then, what looks like a black, bony spike pokes out.
Elthariel grows pale, uncertain of what is happening. Then, a claw rips through the far side, coated in a thick, red slimy substance. Eventually, a large, scaled form covered in what can only be described as afterbirth emerges from the cocoon. A large, scaled, Draconic form!
The dragon turns to look at you all, confusion on its face at the looks it is receiving. Then, the mucus covering Lorthan begins to glow brightly before vanishing in a flash of white light! When everyone’s eyes adjust, the new Lorthan stands before you all, the sun shining off of his silver scales!
He looks down at himself, and immediately panics. ”No...no...NO! Not this!” he cries out. Elthariel darts to his side and says ”Breath Lorthan! Breath! Think! Remember what you learned? That...that some dragon’s can control their shape? Like Titanicus!”
The panicking Lorthan looks at Elthariel with his draconic eyes, before calming his breathing and closing his eyes. ”Focus,” she whispers to him as she hugs his head against her shoulder.
Slowly, his body shifts and compresses upon itself, until Lorthan appears now as a well dressed Elven man whose head is resting on Elthariel’s shoulder in a comforting embrace. He opens his eyes and looks at his body, excitement growing on his face. He walks over to Ryli and falls into her arms with an appreciative hug. ”Thank you, My Lady! Thank you a thousand times!” before releasing her and turning to face Elthariel. He takes a sheepish step towards her, the pair looking into each other’s eyes as if for the first time. After a long moment, they too fall into an emotional embrace.
Eugeni listens quietly to Ryli's story, finding it so unlikely that he has no response. He remains quiet as she works the ritual with Lorthan and another pair of lovers is reunited. See the two other lovers reunited seems to be a bit much for him. He quietly slips away to his room in the mansion, to be alone.
Setsuna gone. Me stuck in this body. I'll never find another to love me for who I am. My child was born from a mother I never loved and will be raised by a stranger. What am I saving the world for again? So everyone can leave me when our quest is finished and I can live out my remaining years in loneliness? Great....
Ryli watches with amazement as the Wheel grants Lorthan a new body, a pure dragon this time rather than the half-breed of his old life. She hadn't known which part of his heritage would have dominated.
She takes a tentative step forward when he shows distress about his form. Oh, no. Not again, she thinks, not sure what to say to comfort the former half-dragon and now full one. He's very pretty, she notes, but wasn't sure he wanted to hear that.
Then, Lorthan changed. He turned himself into an Elven man, someone that could be with Elthariel. Tears glisten in Ryli's eyes as he demonstrates the powers that silver dragons possess. She returns his embrace, then allows him to go to the one he'd loved for so long.
The reunion of the two time-tossed lovers makes her own heart pine desperately for Zenlan.
Chogra looks at you, confused. But his confused quickly solidifies to a stony anger. ”Fine. Choose whatever male you want. It’s your choice. But the Herd will not be stronger for it, like you claim!” he says as he stands and walks away from the fire. Nearby, you see one of Chogra’s wives watching from behind a tent, but the moment you make eye contact she turns and walks off out of sight as well.
The next morning, you hear a man aged voice call out your name from outside your tent. You exit to see the Chief, looking at you with a pleasant smile. ”Come, Earthmother. Let us walk a bit,” he says before walking off through the camp and into the fields. You pass several centaur families tightening their tents down and restaking them, which is odd considering the Herd was expected to move today.
Ryli sits quietly, staring at the fire long into the night. She stands up eventually and goes to her tent for the evening.
When the chief calls for her, she immediately exits. Relieved by his smile, she gives him one in return. "Yes, it's a pleasant morning for a walk. How do you feel?" she asks, turning her head around and looking at the activity of the camp with an expression of concern.
The Chief seems to pay no mind, though, as he walks on quietly until the two of you are alone in the field. ”My time is at hand, Earthmother. But I go knowing the Herd is in good hands. Chogra has proven himself at least somewhat clever, and with you at his side as Earthmother, the Herd again has a united leadership once again,” he says with a smile as he looks off towards the rising sun.
Ryli absorbs the natural beauty, but the splendor of the new day doesn't lift her spirits. He doesn't know, she realizes.
"My chief," she begins, "the Herd will be protected, and in good hands. You have my word."
She looks at him gravely, her eyes laced with apology. "But I will not be Chogra's wife." She meets his eyes steadily, trying hard to keep her own dry.
"I will always owe him my place, here, in this Herd. I will be a loyal and steady guide to his decisions, and will always see that he is wisely counseled. But I will not bear his foals."
He places a comforting hand on the back of your head. ”But word has spread that you do not choose him. Which means, deep down, you have chosen someone. That is why I stopped the move today. So you can make your announcement when we return and I can make it official. Then you and your mate can have the day and night to share one another’s tent. And at dawn, the Herd moves on. Your outriders will travel with you. They know the way to our next camp. They will guide you home to your child.”
Be breaths in the wind deeply. ”Besides. My legs ache. I don’t feel like walking today,” he adds with a sly wink to you.
The surge of emotion almost knocks her off her feet. The heart in her chest leaps and dances, while her lower heart thuds. Her tail tosses in delight and her face lights up. She felt so giddy, so much in love, so young. She would finally get to choose her beloved. They would get to do that which they've been denied for all this time: Announce their love.
She gives the Chief a hug regardless of protocol. Thank you, she whispers.
Noticing that Eugeni seems to be depressed about something, Jeevika remembers that she had promised to try and heal whatever the Wendigo had done to him.
"Eugeni, I believe it's time for me to make good on my promise. I am uncertain what exactly that creature did to you, but going by what happened to the Vekker brothers, I wager that it's some sort of curse."
Before casting her spells, Jeevika borrows the Orange Prism Ioun Stone. She first starts with the universally powerful Heal spell as a base. The Holy Vindicator pauses... and then starts crying blood. After two more spells, the bloody tears cease.
As for Lorthan, Jeevika casts Greater Restoration on him to remove any lingering effects of his reincarnation. The spell is funded by her Blood Money via her Silver Spindle Ioun Stone.
Jeevika then treats the Blood Money and bleed damage with a Heal on herself.
He stands quietly looking at the sunrise a bit longer before saying ”Come. Let us go back.” When you make it back to camp, he lifts a Minotaur horn from his side and places it to his lips, sending out a signal blast to get the Herd’s attention. When the Herd has gathered, he says loudly ”Everyone! This female, our Earthmother, would like to choose her Lifemate. May the Herd respect her choice and their union be fruitful!”
A murmur of gossip and excitement rolls over the crowd. Chogra stands stoically at the edge of the crowd with his arms crossed, watching without emotion.
Ryli lets go of the chief and steps back, wiping her eyes. She laughs as well, still scarcely believing it was happening.
She fought hard to keep the elation off her face, and was sure she was only marginally successful. When they return to the herd, she deliberately keeps her eyes straight ahead, and makes no eye contact with anyone.
She slips into her tent briefly and casts her usual allotment of defensive spells. She was sure it was unnecessary, but it eased her thundering hearts anyway, going through the preparations that she had become so used to in her action-filled previous lives. Nothing's going to happen. Nothing's going to happen, she repeats to herself over and over as a mantra.
She didn't think her hearts could beat any faster, and then Chief Durkon blows his horn and makes his announcement. She steps out of her tent and moves to stand next to him while the rest of the herd assembles. The eyes upon her were of mixed emotions, and she felt the curiosity and anticipation of the various members of the herd.
She looks around, suddenly fearful that Brognar would not be there. Or that she somehow imagined the last twelve hours and she was making a huge mistake. The weight of her choice presses down on her, and she wrings her hands.
Do I make a speech? Should I explain why? Chogra didn't care for my explanation, would it matter for the rest of the herd?
She starts to speak, deciding to keep it simple and direct. "I am Ryli Thunderhoof. Named Earthmother by your elders. I will speak for the earth, and the sky, and the water, when the time comes for the Herd to seek wisdom. But today, I speak only for my hearts."
They sing, pounding in unison as the moment arrives. The regret, the shame, the countless wasted years and forgotten lives between them fall away. She finds his face in the crowd and she smiles.
"I choose Brognar Thunderhoof, in this life and all my lives to come," she shouts into the sky.
Noticing that Eugeni seems to be depressed about something, Jeevika remembers that she had promised to try and heal whatever the Wendigo had done to him.
"Eugeni, I believe it's time for me to make good on my promise. I am uncertain what exactly that creature did to you, but going by what happened to the Vekker brothers, I wager that it's some sort of curse."
Before casting her spells, Jeevika borrows the Orange Prism Ioun Stone. She first starts with the universally powerful Heal spell as a base. The Holy Vindicator pauses... and then starts crying blood. After two more spells, the bloody tears cease.
[dice=Remove Curse (Orange Prism Ioun Stone, Sacred Stigmata)]1d20+16+1+4
[dice=Remove Curse (Orange Prism Ioun Stone, Sacred Stigmata)]1d20+16+1+4
As for Lorthan, Jeevika casts Greater Restoration on him to remove any lingering effects of his reincarnation. The spell is funded by her Blood Money via her Silver Spindle Ioun Stone.
Jeevika then treats the Blood Money and bleed damage with a Heal on herself.
"Thank you, Jeevika. I feel much better now."
The abberant arcanist looks at the elven cleric closely. "How are you doing?"
After the reincarnation spell, the two time-lost adventurers take some time alone out of ear shot to talk in private. Looking at the conversation from afar, you can tell it is an emotional one. Lorthan at first looks excited and extremely happy, but Elthariel’s relief at his resurrection soon fades to an uncomfortable awkwardness. She talks to him a moment, and his demeanor changes to one of confusion, followed by pleading. She averts her eyes and appears unsure of things, eyes filling with tears. He begins to grow angry, and she tries to calm him down. He pulls his arm away from her, storming off to the rail of the air ship and looking out from it as he leans on it. She goes to try and calm him with a gentle hand in his back, which he shrugs away. He turns and says something to her sharply, then storms off below deck.
The chief steps forward and speaks out ”So it is done, beneath Mother Sun and Father Wind! May the Herd be strengthened by their union!” and gestures towards your tent.
Later that evening, as you and Brognar hold one another, taking a moment to try and catch your breath and let the sweat dry, the flap of your tent is thrown open and a young male you haven’t met leans inside in a panic. ”Earthmother! Come quick!”
Ryli watches the exchange between Lorthan and Elthariel with rising concern. She goes below decks and finds Lorthan. "You've waited for so many years, you can wait a little while longer. You should first adjust yourself, while letting her do the same," she says softly.
"I'd never seen the Wheel involve itself with draconic life before. You are whole, and a brilliant being that I think matches your soul nicely. But if I'm not mistaken, you're no longer borne of fire. Given the environment of your death and rebirth, I would imagine you are now of sky and ice. And these things are strong and patient. The fire is not you, anymore."
She reaches out her hand, inviting him to take it. "Would you like to fly with me?"
When their evening is interrupted, Ryli arches an eyebrow to Brognar as if to say, see? She had again insisted that they retain their centaur forms throughout their union. Partly because she feared this very instance, but also because she was hoping for his seed to find fruit within her and she didn't want to complicate things by being an elf or something else.
Then she responds with urgency, rising, gathering her staff and headband -- and something to cover her breasts as an afterthought -- and hurries after the panicked male.
Lorthan just sits below deck on a crate, his body trembling. He replies ”No...not right now,” his eyes never leaving the floor. ”She’ll never love me like I love her. She still loves him, even though his bones have long been dust and his soul moved on ages ago. She will always love him. And I have to accept that fact. That I am doomed to a life of loneliness.”
He does not move. He just stares off into the distance in the same spot the two of you stood this morning for the sunrise. His body is cool to the touch, and his eyes are glazed over. A calm, resolute look of Pride on his face as his body stands defiantly against gravity, even in death. What keeps the body from toppling over is either amazing luck or the power of his spirit, but had you seen him from a distance you’d never have guessed he had passed.
Another centaur approaches you and says shakily, ”Earthmother...you...you’ll need to name the next Chief...”
Eugeni follows slightly behind Ryli, just out of sight. When he hears her conversation with Lorthan, he enters the chamber openly. "I could not help but overhear what you just said, Lorthan. I understand how you feel, believe it or not. My whole life, except for a brief stint in a half-orc body, I have been an ugly 'freak' to those around me. I've only ever known love once, and this quest took it from me. I may not be a suitable romantic companion for you, I am not sure. But I will tell you that I will not leave you alone after all this. I promise that if we stick together, we will have friendship at least."
Lorthan looks to Eugeni, then to Ryli, gauging how she takes Eugeni’s comment about the loss of his love. He reaches out and puts a soft elven hand on Eugeni’s shoulder. ”Yes. Perhaps. If we live. But my heart only had love for one, and that love will never be truly returned. But yes, certainly as friends.”
Ryli sighs and then raps Lorthan's head with one end of her staff. "You're not doomed to a life of loneliness any more that Elthariel is doomed to a life of grief. How old is she? A hundred and fifty? Two hundred? And how many years have you got as a dragon ahead of you? Five hundred? A thousand, perhaps? You have time. In all my long years of existence, I've learned two things about time. It heals wounds and pain, and it makes anything possible."
Ryli nods. "Very well," she says solemnly. She looks for Chogra among the crowd and makes her way toward him. As gently as she can, she touches his shoulder. "I had hoped to learn the tradition before this day came. I'll need to know the words to make you chief."
Lorthan grabs his head in reflex, but as Ryli talks, his eyes grow cold as ice. ”And in all the lives you have lived, how many have you truly loved? Because it would seem to me...that number is one.”
He lets that sink in before adding ”Why then, is it so impossible for it to be the same for me?”
Ryli's eyes go wide in astonishment. "No! That's the very thing I'm trying to say! I've had countless loves! Zoli's father, and Jeevika's grandmother, among hundreds more. It's feeling a little odd right now, having found my first love, but that doesn't lessen the love I've felt for them."
He looks at you dubiously. ”Really? Not even in hindsight? Do you think that is due to the amnesia you suffered? Would you have felt the same way without having your memories scrambled with each return? Even after this one, I know there are memories of my old life I’ll never recalll in my own. I think, had your memory of your precious Brognar not been diminished through the cycle of death and rebirth, your feelings for the others would have been different. But I suppose we will never know, as what's done is done.”
He shifts back into his now normal dragon form, and walks over to a side of the vessel, where he curls himself up and lays down, his head resting sorrowfully near his left hind quarter
Eugeni uses his alter self ability to turn into a small, child-like kobold. He goes and sits next to Lorthan, curling up himself and maintaining the silence of the depressed.
”Chogra! There is no need for that!” Brognar’s voice calls out when he sees Chogra be so stern with you.
Chogra turns and leers at Brognar. ”You wish to challenge?”
Brognar shakes his head, ”No, Chogra. You are Chief by right. But that does not mean you can be rude to my wife!”
Chogra turns back and stalks over to Brognar, the gathered herd watching in stunned silence. Chogra glares down at him angrily as Brognar continues quietly ”You mourn your father. We all do. He was a great chief, and you can be as well. But let us show your father the respect he deserves in passing. Not hold grudges.”
Chogra then shoves Brognar violently, sending the smaller centaur rolling back down the hill a ways. He then begins stalking towards the smaller centaur!
Brognar’s own eyes flare with rage now, as he rolls over to face Chogra. He slams a fist into the ground, and his body suddenly begins to change! His hands swell and grow, and brown fur sprouts from his bare chest. In a matter of moments, he is towering over Chogra, now in the form of a mighty Mammoth! Stunned gasps come from the rest of the Herd as Chogra balks and hawks at his foe in surprise.
”I do not want this, Chief!” Brognar roars at Chogra. ”Let us stop this and act as brothers in mourning rather than rivals! Let us move forward, in your wisdom, for the sake of the Herd!”
Chogra clenches his teeth again, but looks around at his tribe watching in awe. After a moment of stunned silence, Chogra turns and moves to his father’s body. He takes the chief’s lance and then turns back to the Herd, holding it above his head. The Herd lowers their torsos in a centaurish kneeling gesture, Which Brognar joins in with as he shifts back to his normal form.
Before Jeevika can answer Eugeni's question, Lorthan and Elthariel decide to be drama llamas some drama ensues between Lorthan and Elthariel. She does not say anything during the following conversation that is triggered by Lorthan revealing what was said. After listening to the entire dialogue, she decides to add her two copper pieces.
"Speaking as a fellow elf who has recently lost loved ones and as an ordained priestess of Shelyn, my advice is to give her time, Lorthan. Elthariel has yet to tell me how old she exactly is... not counting her years as a goldfish, but we appear to be within a decade or two of each other. Lorthan, at our age, at this stage of our long lives, time is so... skewed. My only romantic love thus far has been an older human man. He was in his late thirties when we met. I had over three decades with him, but it often feels like just three years. I have only seen Setsuna occasionally over the last seven months, but it feels like just last week when she left the nest to see the world. Similarly, it still feels like yesterday when I received the news of her death..."
Jeevika talks like these hard memories do not bother her, but a few stray tears betray how she really feels...
"From what I've gathered, her years as a goldfish are just a quick blur. This gentleman she loved... to Elthariel, it most likely feels like last week when he died. Lorthan, expecting her to move on right now... is a really tall order. Again, I sincerely think she just needs some time. Elthariel cares very deeply about you, Lorthan. I cannot in good faith apply a specific term to her feelings, but I know this; when you perished, her reaction was nearly identical to mine when I learned of my family's fates. Had she not already known that Ryli and I could bring you back in a matter of hours..."
Having said her piece, finding it difficult to linger on such a personal subject, Jeevika shifts gears and takes a seat next to Eugeni.
"To answer your question, I'm doing alright, Eugeni," answers Jeevika. "I know I wasn't a happy camper during that whole Wendigo mess, but all's well that ends well. Seeing the Vekker brothers reconcile has helped me come to terms with Vince's passing. I think... I think I'll let him enjoy his eternal reward. He lived a hard life, but his last decade or so was good. I think deserves his rest."
Ryli falls into silence at Lorthan's questioning how she would have felt if she'd remembered Zenlan while being Ryllibelle or Rileon -- or even her own recent behavior since returning to life in the Wing of Lust. Because even now, she felt a lurking specter of guilt and betrayal hanging over her. The lives she'd had a hand in creating now living monuments of her infidelity.
She was eminently grateful for Jeevika to step in, since she didn't feel she could lie to Lorthan.
For Durkon's sake, she wanted the succession of chief to go correctly and in accordance with tradition. Now, for the sake of the herd, she wanted it done quickly. She gallops up to stand next to Chogra and in a clear voice, calls out, "Chogra Thunderhoof, son of Durkon, I name you Chief of the Thunderhoof Clan! May our ancestors bless you and guide you as you lead us." Ryli keeps the anger out of her voice and the heat from her eyes as she looks at Chogra. When she finishes her pronouncement, she kneels in the same fashion as the rest of the centaurs.
"Do not we all?" Eugeni asks. He leans his small lizardy head on Jeevika's shoulder. "Hopefully, once we kill Karzoug we can all get some rest."
Eugeni's reminder of their mission settles Ryli's emotions well enough. She sighs and leaves Lorthan with her companions, remembering she had her own charges to concern herself with.
She heads to the Outriders to give them an update. "It was a hard-fought battle against a foul creature borne of starvation and cannibalism. But we prevailed, and put two angered spirits to rest."
She studies their reactions, curious if they've adjusted to their unusual travel means. "We now have a map to the enemy's city and we prepare to go there now. Do you have any questions or requests of me before we set out?"
With Chogra named chief, Ryli begins overseeing the funeral of Durkon. If the herd's ways are burial, she uses her staff to stone shape a tomb, or a pyre if burning is the ritual. She says a few words over the body.
"We say goodbye only to this physical shell, which has served our chief well for his life. But Durkon's spirit runs wild and free over the plains of our ancestors. He has joined them, as we will one day. So let us remain strong and together, a powerful herd that will protect the next generation as Durkon wished for us. For our bodies are temporary, but our spirits endure forever."
With the funeral over, Ryli rejoins her husband and coaxes him toward their tent. "You spoke. I never bothered learning that trick," she says with a smile.
"I'm going to be going in the morning with the outriders. I'm glad you're here to protect Kallie and the herd. I-- I hate that I have to do this, after we've finally found each other. It's not fair."
Brognar smiles at you slyly, ”Yes...I found it to make things less complicated,” he replies as he helps make preparations for the travel tomorrow. ”But don’t worry, I will keep her safe. Just...just come back to me...”
At dawn, the flap to your tent is tossed aside and you see Chogra peering in. ”Earthmother. We must talk.” He and Brognar exchange cool looks to one another, but nothing more is said for now.
Once you have made your way outside, you see Chief Chogra and a few warriors gathered around a map. The warriors are girding themselves for patrol. Chogra looks to you and points at the map, ”We are changing our destination. If the star men rule the giants and rally them to war, we must defend our grasslands. So we will be moving the Herd to strike first. We will take the Giant Steps up to the flatlands, then to the Mountains to the west,” he says pointing at the Storval Stairs and then the Stony Mountains. ”We will strike their body while you attack their head. Go now, Earthmother. Your Trial has begun.”
Ryli keeps her expression a mask as she listens to Chogra's plan to take the herd to war. She then studies the maps and considers how long it would take the herd to reach the stone giant lands.
With as serene a face as she can, she looks at her chief, nodding. "I see. It is a bold plan. I see your father's decisiveness in you. However, I would ask that you listen to my counsel in this, though I know matters of war are yours to decide. I ask you, my chief, to wait.
"The Star Man marks his followers with his symbol to gain strength from them. Even when they die, his power is increased. When you and your warriors slay these giants, Karzoug will get stronger."
Her voice takes on a note of urgency. "Do not make my job harder. Wait for when he is dead. This is not like a snake, where the head will die when you stomp its body."
Ryli puts a note of pride in her voice and stance. "When Karzoug is defeated, we will see if the giants want to continue his dreams of conquest. If so, then we will stop them, and their deaths will mean nothing to anyone but their gods.
"Will you need my counsel, my Chief?"
He turns to his warriors and gives them some instruction regarding their packs and items to take, before turning to the caravan and giving commands to routes to follow.
Ryli strains to remain calm. "My chief, the herd will never starve so long as I am Earthmother, I swear this to you. Now, listen to me. Wait. This is my counsel. Wait for my return. I will succeed. Or do you doubt your Earthmother?"