"Yes, not much else to do here. We're off."
Once again, you are on your way, your destination - town of Usodestis. Flax is positive you will make up for the time lost in ruins and advance on the original path till the day is done, even if just a little bit. He estimates you'll reach the settlement second day from now, maybe sooner if everything goes well. And though you don't have much of a need to talk and your throat still hurts, there are some thoughts you could put to rest.
"That town... Tell me something about it. I barely know anything about cities of your kind, or the land ahead."
"I wasn't there ever either." Sas says. "I only heard horror stories about tax collectors, but those don't visit my hometown, or at the very least, not from this holding."
"Yeah, that's a pretty special feature this town has to it, you see. It has a king! And yes, he has indeed a council of subservient lords, some of which serve as tax collectors in his lands."
"How does that work? What do they pay, coins?" you ask.
"If they have." the warrior answers. "Not everyone does, but the king accepts possessions of all kinds, if they fit the value threshold. Furs, food, wool..."
"Interesting. I know of wolf men paying tribute in children."
You can see Sas bulged his eyes in utter bewilderment. Flax seems more amused than anything.
"And how does that work?" the hunter asks.
"Well, when a tribe of theirs is small only the chieftain has offsprings. But when his horde grows large and he can rightfully call himself king, other men are allowed to sire. Except the kids are pleaded to the king anyways, they all belong to him. At least in some tribes."
"Hey but wolf men are even further away than us, you seem to know a lot about those, don't you?" Flax laughs. "How's that?"
"There are some common roots between our folks, especially as far as shamans go. But those were the time of yore, now there are tenths of separate tribes and traditions alike, and you wouldn't recognize any of that for how much they differ. But even as much we are distinct now, there is still a sort of a connection. Every now and then you meet some wanderers, outcasts, or even shamans... The word spreads a lot easier than that of your kind. There's a lot of mistrust regarding humans..."
"Some intriguing stuff! That's actually something you'll find in Usodestis. Temples! And a lot of traditions with them. Priests, diviners, healers and sorcerers, anything you can think of, servants of local gods."
"More runecarvers?"
"Runecarvers are more of a secular organization, I get the impression. Well, organization, I've seen wizards like that wander the land on their own independently, so who knows. But these, these are proper religious orders, some of which come with peculiar tricks."
"Do your people have temples, Black?" asks Sas.
"Whenever spirits happen to be is kind of sacred, but designated grounds of worship? Not really. But they do like to inhabit specific places. Woods, rivers... The ruins were brimming with them. Or the Grove I was talking about earlier, that is considered sacred as well."
"Maybe they'll have a street spirit too." says Flax. "That's one of those places where you can get whatever... Oh, yes, and I need to visit a friend there."
"A friend?"
"Precisely. Maybe I'll scour some specific shops, too... Chores, you know."
"You think we could get me a new staff? The last one has been turned to ashes."
"I'm sure we'll find a good stick along the way... Not today though, we won't see wood till tomorrow. But if you really wanted, I could buy you a nice sturdy shaft in the town, mmm? Hard as a shovel helve."
"We might as well bump into something that hard in a forest, no worries. Could be decorated, though... With a bird skull, maybe some feathers..."
"That would be a proper staff!" says Sas. "Then I'll help you obtaining!"
And Flax was indeed right, all the way until the sun settled down you didn't see much but white plains, spreading as far as the eye can see, only at the end of today's journey you can see small trees, like a tiny basket reeds gawking over the horizon.
Sas once again left you to search the area for food, while you prepared the campfire. And he was ultimately successful, as he had brought you a hare.
After suppertime you went straight to bed, your new cloaks giving you more warmth than anything else you ever wore. Flax offered he could take watch through most of the night and leave you and Sas out of it, but the hunter insisted on taking his share. Both agreed that you need to rest, and should sleep till dawn, and remained firm in this decision.
You close your eyes.
...
You see darkness. Thick black fog shrouds everything around you. But in front of you, it seems to form a shape.
A somewhat dim light lits the scene ablaze. There is a man sitting, near a tiny flame, burning on its own in the snow.
His antlers two stumps, fractured a long, long time ago. His long fur is gray, but seems pale and bleached.
A strange merging on display, of strength and virility, as well as sickenly, withered body of an old man. There is a spear in his right hand, and a band of dark brambles on his left one, tearing into the flesh. Onto his neck is a necklace similar to yours, but beaded with a lot more pieces, teeth, antlers, bones alike.
You stand up, alarmed. The man does nothing.
"Sit down. You are asleep." he says. "Fear not, nothing can happen to you. We have to talk."
What do you want to do?
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Topic: Dwarf Fortress -Drawings- : Tales of the Deer Wizard (Read 169738 times)