[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Se4Pc57.png[/img][/center]

[center][i]Before Kirron’s encounter with the Beast[/i][/center]
The air fluttered through Kirron’s white mane as he directed himself through the air. His last jump had been from the middle of a cold, dry, rocky land far from any ocean. Just a step for him. This jump was bringing him over clouds, and only just over another colossal range of grey mountains. Ohannakeloi’s land never seemed to end. Kirron loved it.

Finally over the mountains, Kirron could see the ocean glinting at the edge of the other end of the continent. Plenty of greenery was before him, but he wanted to take in the view from a high vantage point.

Just as well the ground was rising again to welcome him back.

[colour=Red][b]"WooooOOOOAAAAAH!"[/b][/colour] His cheeks puffed up as he yelled from the sheer force of wind against his direction of travel. The source of his exclamation came in the form of a large bank of scree that readily swallowed him all the way up to the abdomen and slowed his momentum with force enough to slam his arms and face against its surface. His tree trunk club whizzed past him with a smooth [i]sheeouuuu![/i] as it surfed in a line all the way down, causing a small landslide of stone onto the forest beneath it.

The dull [i]THONK[/i] of the club’s end stopping hard upon a boulder startled Kirron out of his daze. He sat up and shook the pebbles out of his beard like a wet dog. [colour=Red][b]"Who had the time to pile up all these tiny rocks!?"[/b][/colour] He thought out loud. [colour=Red][b]"Bah! May as well have a look around while I’m here."[/b][/colour]

Kirron lifted his arms and slowly waded his way out of the scree. He inevitably caused another landslide which he gracefully walked down, taking care to keep his balance. At the base of the embankment, he pulled his club out of the gravel with an effortless heft and marched on.

[hr]
Embalek loved the colour of the stones this far into the south. He had made his family from those stones, and he held affection for each one of them.

Henakjao was the first he made. A rough character from a hodgepodge of materials, but that gave a wise angle of perspective that made Henakjao a valuable counsellor as well as a friend.

Ulam was the next, made with help from Henakjao. Ulam was better planned in body shape – much better balanced. Such a friend was always the type to run ahead.

But Ihokhetlani such as they had no reason to resent their different shapes and sizes. To have one another was more important. To pay respect to the gods and to shape the stones well. Embalek tore another large plate of dark slate from the outcrop before him and held it up by the edges with his large hands. "And you will have your own shape as well," he said to himself, regarding the stone with the glowing optical hole in his head.

"Embalek, look what I found," Ulam held a round orange stone up above himself. It was bigger than Ulam’s head. "Our new friend will make good use of a foot like this."

Embalek lowered the slate and lumbered around to face the orange rock. "Hmm. A good find, but too big and brittle for a foot. Try knapping it down into a head shape."
"A head!?" Ulam brought the stone in front of his eye. "But…but that is the most important part. Are you sure?"

"Yes. It is a good find, Ulam." Embalek gestured with a palm up towards him. "We needed a head for our newest friend. I want you to shape it."

"I’m honoured, Embalek! Thank you!"

Henakjao clomped his feet on the soil around a tree and gruffly lifted a flint and obsidian hand holding a sturdier speckled red stone. "Found a foot," he announced.

Embalek’s eye glinted. "Aha, Henakjao you are a sharp one as always. Good work! With this slate for a shoulder blade and Ulam having found a head, we are ready to put our friend together already."

Henakjao tersely nodded. Ulam lifted the yellow stone above his head and waddled forth, leading the way back around the mountain trail.

[hr]
[i]Clack, clack, clack, clack, clock![/i]

A chunk of yellow stone sheared off its larger counterpart and thudded onto the grass. Henakjao reverently lifted up the larger remains between his flint fingers; a smooth block of orange stone with a shallow hole dug out of the top. He placed it softly at the edge of a larger pile of stones of all different shapes, sizes, colours, and patterns. Together, the heap made the rough shape of a four-limbed creature with a head, much like the rest of them.

"The pyres and Asceal’s comet are bright tonight," Embalek said to the clear night sky above. "And the breeze is soft. A perfect time."

"How do we do this, Embalek?" Ulam said eagerly.

"Calling a new Ihokhetlani comes naturally." He pat Ulam’s smooth marble shoulder. "Just follow our lead. Our friend will wake up before you know it."

Heavy footsteps parted the grass nearby. All three of the Ihokhetlani turned their heads. Coming up the grassy hillock towards them was a stranger. Half their height but the same shape as them. Hairy and fleshy like an animal but carrying a stripped tree over one shoulder. Its eye was a strange, flesh-flapped thing too low on his face and did not glow at all. It could only have been one thing based on description alone, if quite different from the rare statues made of him.

The stranger’s eye hole parted to show a set of triangular teeth. [colour=Red][b]"’Scuse me for eavesdropping, but I was wondering…"[/b][/colour] The stranger pointed at the stone heap, circling his finger at it. [colour=Red][b]"Do you fellas make friends out of piles of stones often?"[/b][/colour]

The Ihokhetlani looked at each other. Embalek faced the stranger and replied with a deep bow. The others bowed as well. "Greetings. We do not make friends often, I must say. Tonight is a special night. We have been gathering the choicest stone to make this body for our new friend and we are finally ready to call him." Embalek gestured to the heap. "You humble us with your presence, stranger, and forgive me for my presumption, but if I am not mistaken, we are visited by a god tonight, are we not?"

[colour=Red][b]"Bleah,"[/b][/colour] Kirron rolled his eyes. [colour=Red][b]"Yeah. You’re not Sheng’s buddies are you? You sound kinda like him."[/b][/colour]

"I am afraid I do not know the name [i]Sheng[/i]. Perhaps you refer to the god of-"

Kirron waved dismissively. [colour=Red][b]"Whatever, whatever. The name’s Kirron. I am blood and strength. Who are you lot?"[/b][/colour]

"Your most noble self is a blessing to our humble presences. We are Ihokhetlani, Embalek…" Embalek placed his fingers on his chest, and then onto the shoulders of his companions in turn. "…Henakjao, and Ulam."

[colour=Red][b]"Hmph,"[/b][/colour] Kirron harrumphed. [colour=Red][b]"Sounds like fun to make a new friend. How long did that take you?"[/b][/colour]

Embalek had to think on how to answer. "Time passing is not something we Ihokhetlani pay close attention to. The snowy dark that takes the south on occasion has passed…five times since we began, I believe? That was when Ulam was born."

Kirron’s brow lowered and he tilted his head. [colour=Red][b]"Really? Huh. Is it a challenge, doing all this rock gathering?"[/b][/colour]

Embalek clasped his brown stony hands, sensing a reason to be nervous. "We thank Ohannakeloi every day for the strength and fortitude he gave us, for such a task is only a matter of patience and judgement."

[colour=Red][b]"So it’s easy, huh?"[/b][/colour]

"Not always. Our new friend’s lower leg had to be dislodged from a rather tight ravine." Embalek’s stony head glanced to Henakjao and back. "It…took us fifteen nights to lever it out."

Kirron curled his lips inward. The way his mouth [i]tsk[/i]ed as he showed his teeth again gave across a most unimpressed disposition. He faced the yellow stone head Ulam had found and Henakjao had carved.

The blood god intoned with severity: [colour=Red][b]"This night is not special. Not as it is. It was not earnt through enough adversity to appreciate."[/b][/colour] He stepped between the Ihokhetlani and grasped the yellow stone with his free hand, lifting it up off its place.

Ulam tightened a pale marble fist.

[colour=Red][b]"If you want this friend of yours, I’m going to take his head up to the top of that mountain over there."[/b][/colour] Kirron pointed to a snow-capped peak in the near-distance, his index finger lifting from the stone even as he held it aloft in his hand without any trouble. [colour=Red][b]"To scale it, you will have to face a deadly challenge. Something worthy. If it bests you, you might even die, but only those kinds of risks are [i]really[/i] special."[/b][/colour] A dreadful grin spread across Kirron’s face. [colour=Red][b]"But if you don’t come to collect, that challenge is going to come to you, and all the rest of you Ihokhetlani. So, you’d better not be the cowards you made yourselves out to be here to me today…"[/b][/colour]

"Oh, god of blood and strength, Kirron, please," Embalek spread his arms and fell to his knees desperately. "Do not curse us! We are only creatures of nature! We did not dream to offend you!"

[colour=Red][b]"Too late, stoneman!"[/b][/colour] Kirron snarled. [colour=Red][b]"You are no better than this heap of lifeless rocks if you never use the gifts your creator gave you! Step up from your base nature or your precious peace will turn you back into stone."[/b][/colour] He walked several paces towards the mountain and stopped to look over his shoulder. [colour=Red][b]"Heed my words, Ihokhetlani."[/b][/colour]

He crouched, tensed, and launched himself off the ground towards the mountain, kicking up a heap of grass and soil in his wake.

The three Ihokhetlani were left in stunned, fearful silence. The soft breeze was suddenly much louder to their senses.

Ulam punched the soft ground. "That bully!" He shouted. "He can’t just steal our friend’s head after all that time finding it!"

"Ulam, be at peace-"

"No!" Ulam bounded away, down the hill and towards the mountain. "I’m going to get that stone back!"

"Ulam, wait!" Not even Henakjao’s deep voice could stop the quick companion. Henakjao and Embalek dropped into a thunderous jog to keep up with Ulam.

[hr]
[colour=Red][b]"Time to make a challenge."[/b][/colour]

High up the mountain, blood melted through ice and seeped into the cracks of the stone.

Green and black veins hissed and bubbled in the earth.

A glowing blood of red and bright yellow oozed like a burst scab and was drawn up in four misshaped metallic pillars.

The great body of bronze was cast at their summits.

Wild eyes blazed.

Heat blasted from its nostrils.

Hooves slammed the ground.

It had no mouth to say its name. Kirron granted one as one last gift.

[colour=Red][b]"Ikhortaur."[/b][/colour]

It huffed with fury.

[colour=Red][b]"Awaken them to death."[/b][/colour]

[hr]
[right][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oybnYEA-1U]The Rage (Roku – 13 Assassins)[/url][/right]

Ihokhetlani did not tire easily. Ulam knew this, yet in his indignant anger he ran further than he knew he was capable of. The theft felt petty. It felt unfair. There was plenty of other stone around if Kirron wanted some. Kirron may have been a god but he had no right to take away their friend before he was born. That was the stone Ulam had found especially for him! They had carved it for his head!

"Ulam! Do not be rash!"

Embalek’s voice was faint behind him. He did not want to slow down. He was not far from the mountain now. The trees had given way to gravel and grass a short while ago.

Henakjao yelled out as well. "It is not the place of mortals to meddle with gods! You don’t know what you’re heading into, Ulam!"

How hard could this challenge be anyway? Ulam thought. They were Ihokhetlani, prey to no creature and unstoppable given enough time. If some little challenge was all it took to prove themselves to Kirron, Ulam would complete it out of spite no matter how long it took.

Ulam’s heavy footfalls slowed as the incline of the mountain’s base presented itself. He jumped up over boulders and hefted himself up the rises.

"Ulam! Turn back! I beg of you!" Embalek spoke with a renewed fear.

"No!" Ulam stopped at the top of a flat boulder half his height and turned around. "We are proud, strong, and intelligent! Ohannakeloi could not have created us just to be pushed around!"

Embalek and Henakjao finally slid to a stop near the boulder. Embalek pleaded with his arms outstretched. "Please! We must respect the gods. If we are not prepared for a deadly challenge, we will be punished for it!"

"I cannot give my respect to a god that cannot respect us!" Ulam punched the stone beneath him. "We had peace before he walked up! Who does he think he is to force us to change?!"

"You don’t know what you are doing, young one…" Henakjao slowly raised a hand towards Ulam. "Come, leave with us. That Kirron is dangerous. He could smite you whenever he likes."

Ulam pointed back. "You’re too scared to think! If he could just smite us, why didn’t he do so before!?"

A hot breeze passed them by, flicking the grass tufts in the direction of their travel and back. They all felt a presence. A dreadful, monstrous presence. Ulam rotated his head and upper body to see the glinting shape of a creature he dared not to conjure into his imagination.

Two red flames stared at him from the height of a stony ridge. Framed in a silhouette highlighted by lines of light reflected from the moon as if its skin was a yellow mirror, those eyes laid housed in the body of a four-legged giant in the shape of a cattle bull. It easily overshadowed the Ihokhetlani even without its perch overlooking them. Instead of the usual two horns, the beast sported only a single, short, blunt, reflective horn that angled slightly down. It had an aura to it that made the surface of Ulam’s stony skin crawl.

"Ulam…" Embalek said cautiously. "Get down from there slowly."

Ulam remained standing. He could not move.

"We’re right here. Come down and it might not see us."

"I…" Ulam’s voice shook with fear. "I can’t…"

He knew he could move if he wanted to. Feeling terror for the first time in his life, he could not shake himself from the paralysis. Ulam’s first nightmare was here, staring at him, and he did not know he was awake.

"Ulam…!"

Jets of steam blew from the cattle monster’s nostrils and it broke into a sudden charge down the ridge. The lustrous garden’s light in the night showed more of the creature barrelling towards them. Its entire body glinted with angular skin of yellowed bronze. It had no mouth, but its nose continued trailing steam. As it neared a boulder in its path, the bull thrashed its horn into it, causing the stone to explode into chunks. Its momentum was not slowed.

"Ulam, run!"

While Ulam turned to sprint away, the bull was too fast. He saw his companions running for their own lives an instant before he felt a thud against his back.

His soul experienced the painful reality of being thrown from his violently shattered body.

Stones rained down ahead of Embalek and Henakjao’s path. Pieces of their young friend filled their hearts with grief and dread as they escaped from the great bronze bull.

It did not give chase, but they ran as hard as they could.

[hr]
Morning came to Embalek and Henakjao. They both sat like still stones, their eye holes flickering gently with a draining grief.

Neither of them wanted to talk. They did not know what to say. They could not make sense of their loss.

The only clue as to what had happened was the one piece of broken stone. Henakjao had snatched it up from the shards of Ulam while they retreated.

It was not broken. The fractures were too smooth, and the faces of them covered with a drying red liquid.

"I think…" Henakjao managed to find just enough energy to speak. "…I think the priests should be warned of this."

[hider=Sometimes this author skips proofreading :X]
This post is set before Kirron circles back around to Dragon’s Foot to meet Li’Kalla the Hungry Dragon.

Kirron is exploring the western reaches of Atokhekwoi. He comes across three Ihokhetlani; Embalek, Henakjao, and Ulam. The trio have spent quite a while in the south-west searching for nice rocks to call a new Ihokhatlani into life. They’re almost done.

On the night the Ihok’s are geared up to do a calling, Kirron approaches them to learn more about the whole thing.

Unfortunately, despite the Embalek’s politeness, Kirron finds the Ihokhetlani experience to be rather lacking in adversity. He does not like this.

In an effort to make the Ihokhetlani more interesting, he takes the head of the yet-to-be-called new Ihok and poses a challenge. Come to the nearby mountaintop to claim the head and be faced with a deadly challenge along the way. If none come to face the challenge, the challenge will come to find them. Some pertinent parting words he leaves them with are these:

[colour=Red][b]"You are no better than this heap of lifeless rocks if you never use the gifts your creator gave you! Step up from your base nature or your precious peace will turn you back into stone."[/b][/colour]

He then leaps away.

Ulam is pissed because he was the one who found the head stone. He goes running after Kirron and the others follow, trying in vain to get him to stop.

A mysterious interlude bridges into the next scene.

Ulam reaches the base of the mountain and is not being talked down.

Then a beast arrives. A great bronze bull with one horn.

The bull charges down the mountain and blasts Ulam to (bloody) pieces. Embalek and Henakjao escape.

Embalek and Henakjao are then very sad and confounded. They decide to go and warn some priests. Word will soon spread of the terror of the mountains known as the [i]Ikhortaur![/i]

The beast itself was made when Kirron drew blood into the earth and brought back materials to create a it. He dubbed it the Ikhortaur. It is a bull with an outer body of bronze, two deep red flames within its eyes, no mouth, nostril that gout with scalding hot steam, and only a single horn on its forehead. It stands as tall as an Ihokhetlani and weighs at least three times as much. When it charges, its magical horn transmutes what it strikes into hairline fractures of red blood and explodes it apart without slowing him down.

[b]Neutralising the Ikhortaur is a new quest[/b] that should be pursued to protect the Ihokhetlani. For if no one comes to deal with the Ikhortaur and retried the orange stone, the Ikhortaur will grow hungry to shatter more Ihoks and venture down from the mountain.

As a quick hint drop, the orange stone may be a trophy redeemable by the victor over the Ikhortaur, redeemable to Kirron for a blessing or an artefact probably maybe we’ll see.

If someone other than an Ihokhetlani deals with the Ikhortaur, Kirron is much less likely to be satisfied.
[/hider]
[hider=Might Summary]
[sup]I may or may not have forgotten to add my latest turn income to the might summary of my previous post but it’s fixed here. Can’t change the previous one as it’s a collab C:[/sup]

[i]Before:[/i] Kirron - Blood, Strength - 10 MP - 14 FP

-2 FP: To create the Ihkortaur, Terror of the Mountains (a beast of phenomenal power)

[i]After:[/i] Kirron - Blood, Strength - 10 MP - 12 FP
[/hider]