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[hider=Summary]A Tale of the Venerable Bato
Bato comes upon a tribe which lives in a frigidly cold land
They're all redheads!
And they're led by a woman called Maki
He calls on them to submit to Eskandar, and their chieftess calls on her people and asks them what they think of this - and Bato is intrigued by this strange style of governance
They reject him and decide to send back a gift with him to placate his master
Bato and Maki talk in her tent, and she gives him a piece of gold - and their appears to be something of a budding romance between them, though her sharp tongue puts him in his place - among the worms and other such things
He pledges to himself that he will win her over
He goes back home and Eskandar is furious
He pledges to bring the furies of the Eskandars upon them and show this tribe the miracle of his power
Bato pleads with him and convinces Eskandar to show them a lesser, less violent miracle instead
Bato goes off again with the Bow of the Moon-Mother
He teaches them its usage and they are impressed and sing the praises of the Moon-Mother
And Maki comes along one night and sits by Bato's fire. Hooray.[/hider][/centre]

[centre]Thanatos, Part III[/centre]

[i]Moon: 339[/i]
Bato stood before the chief of the frinji tribe, surveying her and her people. They were rather different from those back home. For one thing, their hair was as the hot-red! And their skin was pale as the cold-white of the mountain tops. Bato stood wrapped in a great many furs, beneath which was the Warrior-Chief dress that his father had given him, and around his head was the head of the beast. He leaned upon his Warrior-Chief spear and waited on them to speak.

'Well! Go on then, deliver the message you delivered to me, let the people hear and let us see what they shall do with you!' the chieftess ordered him with a haughty voice. Were she not so beautiful, Bato might have taken the smallest bit of offence. But as it were, hearing her voice was far more pleasurable, and the cutting tone with which she spoke served no other purpose than to endear her even more to him. Perhaps it was because she was unlike any other frinji woman he had seen before - she acted far more like his sisters, far more like an Eskandar.

'Oh you eminent people, I have come to you carrying a most honorable message. It is from Eskandar and it is: "By the Gracious Moon-Mother who blesses whom she doth please, and curses whom she doth please. Transgress not! and come to me in submission to Her blessings." So what is it that you say?'

With this, the chieftess turned to her people, who were all sat down, and raised her arms to the heavens.
'Oh people! Advice me in this matter, for I am not one to decide before referring the matter to you,' those who were seated turned to one another and began muttering to one another. Bato watched with fascination this strange method that the people here used for deciding important matters. What was this? A chieftess and she did not cut with a decision until she asked her people? Why was she a chieftess at all then? Eventually, another woman stood up and made a declaration.
'Oh Maki, you know us well. We are a people of great power and strength, and we are ready to do as you command. But the word amongst us is yours, for you are our chieftess and we bow down before your vision,' at these words, a huge shout (of approval?) rose up, and did not die down for a good minute or so.
'It is my view, oh people, that chiefs, should they enter upon a camp, make those who are honoured within it the most despised and wretched in creation. But I shall send back with this messenger a gift of great beauty, a gift of yellow-stone. And we shall see what comes of it,' and with that she turned upon Bato and bid him follow her back to her tent, and that he did.

When they were both within, he finally spoke.
'Maki - if I may call you that - you know not the Patriarch. He shall not be impressed by gifts, no matter how grand. He shall not be content until you submit yourselves to the blessing with which the Moon-Mother has honoured him. For he is the blessed of the Moon-Mother, and all must know it, and all must celebrate it. That you may share in what has been granted him and be of those who prosper,' the woman was clearly unimpressed.
'I have spoken to the people, and they have asked me to decide, and thus have I decided. And I am not one to go back upon a decision once it has been taken. And even were I, I do not believe your words or the words of this so-called blessed of the Moon-Mother. We are here as blessed as any, and we need no extra blessing that we may prosper. Your distance, and the distance of your people from us, will be enough for us to have those,' with that she began rummaging about in the tent, and Bato had an opportunity to look around. It was oddly empty.
'You have no- uh, you are alone here? You- you have no family?' he asked suddenly, his voice revealing a sudden embarrassment. When she turned around, there was a strange yellow rock in her hand, and a most unimpressed look on her face.
'You mean to ask whether I have a life-mate. No, I do not. A worm playing dress-up does not fancy himself man enough for a woman such as I, does he?' a disdainful laugh left her lips. Had Bato been a lesser man, needless to say, he would have felt utterly emasculated by her scornful words. But instead, there grew within him an even greater desire to make this woman his. A smile spread across his face.
'A worm is indeed a most low place to begin, but from such a low beginning, I can only grow in your eyes,' she cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, and the slightest smile hovered around her lips.
'Very well, little worm. We shall see how high in our esteem you can manage to creep. Though I greatly doubt you can get very far,' she handed him the stone, and for the briefest of moments his fingers met hers, and their eyes clashed resoundingly. The mask of contempt seemed to slip ever so slightly from her face, but he did not wait for it to slip completely. He could not bear to damage the pride of such a noble creature in that way. As he turned to leave, he smiled once more.
'I will be back for you, Maki. Try not to fill the camp with sighs while I am gone,' an explosive laugh burst out behind him as he left, and he could not help laughing slightly too. [i]The Moon-Mother has caused me to drink deeply of passion's waters, were it so that when she caused me to drink she caused you.[/i]

When he arrived before his father, his reaction was as Bato expected.
'What is this!' he said derisively, 'they wish to provide me with some precious stone? What the Moon-Mother has brought me is far greater than this! I bring them blessings and prosperity, and they send me rotten stone! By the Moon-Mother, they have elevated themselves to a great height in pride!'
'Father, be merciful, they know not what they do. They are very far away and live sheltered in lands colder than any I have seen. Perhaps a second message and an admonishment will bring them to the light of what the Moon-Mother has blessed us with through you,' the Patriarch shook his head at this.
'No. Return to them, and let them know that we shall come to them with warriors against whom they shall be utterly powerless, and they will be humiliated and debased, and they shall be expelled from the land and shall be forever hunted and cursed,' Bato shook his head and knelt before his father.
'Father, I implore you to be merciful. They are not an evil people, they are merely sadly astray. Show them of your miracles instead, give faith the chance to enter their hearts.'
'Up, boy! I [i]am[/i] showing them a miracle - the miracle of the power which the Moon-Mother has blessed me with. The miracle of the strength of these my children, and their great number. The miracle of those who are not of my flesh yet follow me as though they were. Are these not miracles, Bato?'
'They are, father. Of that there is no doubt, but let us show them a lesser miracle to inspire awe within them, awe and belief. And if the lesser miracle should fail, let us show them of these greater miracles, so as to inspire terror and regret within their breasts, and maybe then they will return from their wayward path and place themselves - willing or unwilling - at your feet,' at these words Eskandar backed away and sat by his fire. He scratched his beard and looked at Bato with some approval.
'You speak well Bato, and you defend your case with passion. And your pleas find success in my heart and mind. Go to them, and take with you the Moon-Mother's bow, and inspire them with it, and impress upon them faith and obedience to their Patriarch and to the Moon-Mother,' Bato thanked his father profusely and, after spending the night resting with his life-mates and children, he set out early the next morning with the bow at his side.

The tribals spotted his approach long before he could see their camp, and when he entered they had gathered and were ready to hear the response of his master. He had expected to see Maki at their head, but she was not there - and a short inspection assured him that she was not sat among the tribals either. Though he had an urge to question them about their chieftess, he held his tongue and instead spoke to them.
'Oh you esteemed and fortunate people, indeed I came to you before, carrying a most honorable message from the Prophet-Patriarch Eskandar. And you gave me your response, and I carried it to him faithfully. And his fury was great! But I fought for you and placed myself upon his feet and at his mercy. And I again beseeched his mercy, for his mercy is great. And so he has forgiven you your past error and he has deigned it right to show you of his lesser miracles, that you may witness it with your eyes and find in yourselves awe and belief,' and with this he raised up the bow of the Moon-Mother and, just as his father had done those many, many moons ago, he showed to them how it worked. And they were shocked at so powerful a tool, and they walked about it and touched it with reverence. And Bato saw Maki watching from a distance, and though his innards danced at her sight, he kept himself composed and shewed her that he was indeed a worthy man.
For long did he stay with them, and he taught them the ways of the bow.

Maki came to him one bitterly cold night as he was sat by a fire, outside the tent they had dedicated to him. They sat silently for a while, and he dared not look at her. For she was so close, and he knew that she would see the weakness which her presence created within him if her eyes were to shine upon his.
'Bato,' she mumbled in a barely audible sound, 'I think...I think we did ourselves no favours when we rejected you when first you came. You have brought us a most mighty miracle. You may consider me, of this day, as one of those who have believed in this Eskandar of whom you speak. And I thank you, on behalf of our tribe, for swaying him from his fury and preventing it from descending upon us. We were indeed in great ignorance before, and the light of this miracle has been as a revelation to us, and we now see the way. And so long as the Moon-Mother wills it we shall not again stray,' Bato slowly looked up, and their eyes finally met. There was certainly a greater amount of humility in her eyes tonight than there was when last they spoke. Without a doubt, her spirit and fire remained, but they had been tempered with faith. And Bato had to admit that faith beautified what had seemed impossible to further beautify.
'And...and what of this worthless worm?' he asked timidly. He was rather surprised to see it, but a small, shy smile spread across her lips. She broke off his gaze and looked at the fire instead. His hand crept into hers, and they sat like that for a long time.

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