[centre][colour=darkgray][h1]The Troll Wars[/h1] [h2]Part 2 - The Walled Haven[/h2][/colour] [/centre] [hr] It was surprising to her, how word spread. When her tribe had first tasted the fruit of intellect, gained their wisdom and used it to elevate her to Chieftess, they had been eight. Now? She led a group of just over thirty. Some had been wanderers, those who had survived alone until the fruit of the gods had freed their minds. Others hadn’t even tasted it, at least until her people had found them. What surprised Ataket though, was how many had come [i]for her[/i]. The great wall was a boon, surely, but every story it appeared in also featured her. The one who was chosen by the gods. Who wore their favor on her head. She felt at the Opal Crown and pursed her lips in thought. The god who had given it to her, who had crafted the wall, had told her it would preserve her wisdom. What that implied, she didn’t know. It was still enough to have kept her awake at times. All she did would be remembered. If not by the crown, then by the people around her. Her name travelled along with news of a great safe haven, and she didn’t doubt that soon it would be known across the highlands. That was daunting. She wondered if she lived up to the stories. If she could ever truly live up to a leg- “Agh!” Well, she thought, probably not. Legends didn’t stub their gods damned toes on stupid fucking rocks. She knelt down and rubbed the offended digit. Oh Cadien had made her and her people beautiful, down to the last feature, but the god clearly hadn’t considered giving them something like shoes. Which, Ataket reflected, she should probably be wearing. They weren’t more than pelts inverted so the fur was on the inside, but a shoe was a shoe when it came to stubbed toes. Still, she enjoyed the grass within the walls. It was different from everything else in the world and nothing made her feel more alive than walking on it. Because it was hers. She breathed deeply and adjusted the heavy serpent skin tunic she wore, trying her best to keep it straight. It was a futile effort, but it couldn’t be said Cadien had left his people without a sense of style. Besides, a Chieftess should always look her best. Gods know the rest of her people didn’t. It wasn’t necessarily that they didn’t try, just that they hadn’t the time she did. They went to hunt, forage, do a million other things, and she waited here. Because all of that wasn’t her role. [i]That[/i] hadn’t actually been Ataket’s decision, and it still rankled. Her people had become enamoured with her, and thus had decided that she was to rule, not labour. Couldn’t have a Chieftess chosen by the gods themselves getting hurt. After all, what if Tekret returned and she was gone? What then they asked? It was… Fair, but also boring. A few of her people milled about, skinning earlier kills, sorting the berries one of the stupider tribesmen had gathered because they were pretty rather than edible. Food couldn’t be wasted, even when it had to be extracted from a basket full of poison. Especially when it seemed more people arrived with every passing day. Ataket heard a commotion at one of the openings in her wall, and wasn’t surprised to see more new faces. More people meant more foragers, more hunters, true, but this many? She worried about that. After all, it had been her who swore to lead her people well. With a short, and above all else [i]silent[/i], sigh she set off to meet the newcomers. Perhaps staying within the wall wasn’t a waste, if it meant she was there to ensure these things went smoothly. [hr] [i]A few hours earlier...[/i] “Daddy, I’m tired,” Kaia wept as she dragged her visibly sore feet across the empty plains. Kefir, who was a few paces ahead of her, stopped, turned and approached her. He squatted down and said, “Alright, Lil’ Kai, but this is the last piggyback today, okay? Daddy’s also getting tired.” “Okay…” mumbled Kaia and climbed on. Kefir felt his legs scream as she stood back up - they had been walking for days now without a proper rest. They couldn’t afford to wait, just in case the troll returned. Even further ahead stood Vintr atop a hill, scouting the lands ahead. Kefir drew a heavy breath and stepped up next to him, eyeing the horizon. “How’re we doing?” Vintr pointed at a gray spot on the horizon. It looked almost like a mountain, but there was an uncanny mechanicality to it, almost as if the stone was sculpted in some way. “That’s it. The chieftess’ camp.” “What… Are those stones?” Vintr shrugged. “Supposedly, they were made to keep danger out.” “Made? Do you mean… Did the gods grant it to them?” “Probably.” Vintr knelt down and took a sip of a racoon stomach fashioned into a water skin. “I reckon we’ll be there by midday. Luckily, we’re on the right side of the river, thank the gods.” “We’ll need to stop halfway,” Kefir groaned. “Kaia can’t last until midday - not on foot.” Vintr frowned, but eventually nodded. “So be it. We’ll set up camp by that small forest.” He pointed to a small grove between their hill and the distant stone anomaly. “Think you’ll make it?” “I’ll manage,” Kefir reassured and the trio continued on. The Boreal Highlands were tough on the exhausted travelers, its uneven and soft terrain betraying their balance on multiple occasions. It took them some time to reach the grove, a little longer than expected - the sun was already reaching its zenith by the time they set up camp. Kefir laid himself down in the short grass and groaned deeply. Kaia picked at the small saplings at the forest border and Vintr made himself comfortable up against a tree. “Kaia, don’t stray too far now,” Kefir ordered quietly. The girl blinked down at him and mumbled, “Okay.” Kefir nodded back and gave Vintr a knowing stare. The young man shrugged and rested his hands behind his head before closing his eyes. Kefir, too, found his lids grow heavy and eventually fell asleep. It is perhaps the most unfortunate thing that children tend to be quite active when their parents aren’t, and this is exactly what was happening to Kaia. The little girl had been ordered not to stray too far, but what was the definition of ‘too far’? Having sat on her father’s back, she was quite well rested already, and thus strolled into the woods to get out of the sun for a moment. The canopy blocked out a fair chunk of the sun, so Kaia could relax her eyes and look for tasty forest treats without fear of burns. Oh! There was a berry! She hopped over, picked it and popped it in her mouth. Mmm. It was sweet and filling - better than the sorry kind they had found on the way. There was another one! There sounded a quick snap as she tugged it off its stalk and ate it whole. She could do this all day - her mother had taught her which berries could be eaten and which could not, and returning to this daily routine almost made her forget that she would never see her again. Oh! There was a mushroom! A big and fat one, too. Over a fire, that could potentially feed all three of them for a short time. She skipped over, grabbed its stem with both hands and pulled-- “OW!” Kaia let go and rolled backwards. The mushroom moved away from her, atop something that seemed like incredibly long strands of moss and grass. No… That wasn’t grass. “Bloody ‘ell,” sounded the deep, groggy voice. “Whot gives, ay?” Kaia’s quivering eyes traced the strands until they lost their verdant colour and became golden blond. The strands continued for several metres, which became even clearer as the thing they were tied to stood up, revealing what Kaia had mistakenly believed was a rock to be a tall humanoid with arms reaching all the way to the ground. It dragged its hands along the moss-grown floor as it turned to see what had awoken it. Its small, beady eyes locked onto the small child and it smacked its lips. Out of its absurdly long hair stuck the mushroom she had tried to pick, along with various other plants and fungi - its silhouette looked nothing short of monster-like. “Woss this, then? A li’l snack out for a walk, is’sit?” Kaia couldn’t answer. The more she looked at it, the more it resembled Thunder, only smaller. The troll snickered. “Now, usually, I’m a bit o’va picky eate’.” It began strolling around her pensively in circles, hand folded together and dragging behind its back. “See, I dun go after ‘umans - they usually pretty terry-toriol ‘n all tha’, so gettin’ to snack on ‘em’s no easy task for an ol’ ranglefant. No, no, no, sir-ee. Ain’t nuffin’ easy for us trolls.” The ranglefant stopped between Kaia and the forest border. “But when the snack comes to me, well… Tha’s just askin’ for it, innit.” The troll raised its enormous hands and approached the girl slowly. “KAIA!” came a shout from behind and the troll spun around, just in time to get a spear lodged in its shoulder. “AH, SHAIT!” it shouted. While it was busy attempting to tug it back out, Kefir swooped in around it, picked up Kaia and back off towards the forest border. There, Vintr waited with another spear, which he sent flying towards the ranglefant as soon as his two companions were behind him. It struck the troll in the belly and incited another pained howl. The ranglefant staggered backwards and grimaced. “You’ve done it now,” it snarled and set forth into a wild charge after the humans. The trio ran as far as they could, but the troll was so much faster. Kefir and Kaia broke out of the forest and onto the plains. Behind them, Vintr came sprinting with a hand at his heels. The troll closed its palm. But Vintr was too fast for it. Instead of snatching itself a human snack, the ranglefant’s hand followed the human out of the forest, straight into the eye of the sun. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” screamed the ranglefant, and Kefir, Kaia and Vintr all stared on in horror as the troll’s hand immediately blistered and ruptured, blood pouring explosively out of rashes that formed all over its exposed skin as though an invisible force was cutting at it with a knife. It retracted its hand as fast as it could, but was evidently in deep pain and weakened significantly. “Damn you,” it cursed, “how’d you know?” The trio said nothing. They didn’t want to risk it. Like the wind, they set off on a run towards the distant city, their fatigue all but chased away by fright and adrenaline. Meanwhile, the troll hissed painfully to itself and retreated deeper into the little grove. [hr] The many arrivals seemed almost to overwhelm the trio, but nothing could shake them from their mission now. Two encounters with those monsters were more than anyone deserved. Kefir approached the nearest who seemed like locals and asked almost desperately, “Forgive me, but is your chieftess present? We bring urgent news!” “What news?” A voice rang out from just beyond the gathering. A tall woman, older than Kafir by enough years that her hair had begun to grey in streaks, approached the group clustered at the walls opening. There was no doubt this was the Chief, for atop her head was a band that shimmered with every colour under the sun. A symbol new to the world, but unmistakable in its way. She eyed the exhausted new arrivals and repeated herself to their faces, “What news brings you here, strangers?” The three bowed curtly and spoke, “I am Kefir, hunter of Teskal’s tribe - or what’s left of it. This is Vintr, son of Somr and this is my daughter Kaia. We bring terrible tidings from the south.” He took a pause to recover his breath and Vintr took over. “Our village was destroyed in its entirety by a giant - a terror of the night we know only as Thunder.” Kaia’s eyes fell to the ground. The Chieftess’s eyes widened and she questioned the trio, “Destroyed? In its entirety? How far south was this? A day's journey? Several?” “About a week or so, if my count is right,” Vintr answered. Kefir nodded. “We’re the only survivors that we know of. The monster leveled our lay-tos and ate what men, women and children its clumsy feet didn’t accidentally step on.” He squeezed Kaia’s shoulder, who had started sobbing again. “My wife didn’t make it, and neither did his family.” He nodded over at Vintr, who nodded solemnly. “We know your village already has many mouths to feed, but we beg you - allow us to seek refuge here. We have nowhere else to go.” There was a terrible silence as not only the Chieftess, but every member of her tribe present regarded the three strangers. Cool blue eyes flicked between the three, and at last the woman spoke, “You are more than welcome here, Kefir, Vintr.” “And you,” She leaned down and met Kaia’s eyes, “ All of you are welcome. I put no conditions on your stay here, you have endured enough.” “But!” The Chieftess stood tall and bellowed, eyeing her own tribe, “If this Thunder is coming from the south, it will reach this safe haven. It will reach us. I will not wait to see if our gift will repulse it. Fetch everyone, all the hunters and foragers. Tell them to bring fresh saplings and stones.” The tribesmen and women stirred and began to abandon their work or leisure. Many left wordlessly, making all haste, but one man looked to the Chieftess and asked, “Are you certain, Chieftess? The god did not answer your wish to see us die fighting some distant monster that could well pass us by. Remember your oath.” The tall woman glared at him and snapped, “I do, Temet. I swore to lead my people well, to the best of my ability. These outsiders are my people now. More than that, I claim every last living person between here and the southern mountains as my own. I will not leave them to be [i]devoured[/i] by a monster. If you would, then flee. I will not sit by and let a coward hide behind my walls.” The man looked furious, but only at the indictment of his own behaviour. He grit his teeth, but nodded and left with the others. Within moments few remained but for the Chieftess and her new visitors. She held out a hand to Kefir and spoke more softly, “I am Ataket, outsider. Welcome to my tribe.” Kefir and Vintr both bowed as low as their fatigued bodies allowed them to. “We thank you - thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” Kefir shepherded his daughter towards one of the tents so they could get some food. Vintr remained and bowed again to Ataket. “Chieftess, if I may… We encountered more of them on the way - barely half a day’s walk to the south.” Ataket cursed, "More creatures like your Thunder? And so close? I hadn't even thought to ask if… And I've already sent my people out. Damn. Damn it all." The chieftess kicked at the ground and scowled, "I have to warn them. They can't be far yet, even the runners should be in sight of the wall." Her eyes went to Vintr and she asked the question, "Do you have any strength left in you? I'd warn them alone, but I must reach all of them and you've fought these monsters before. If we come across one I'd be glad of your company." “Please, chieftain - allow me to finish. This monster was a lesser one; while similar to Thunder, it was much, much smaller, and much hairier. Also, we, we think we managed to uncover their weakness.” He pointed to the sky. “The one we encountered south of here reacted painfully to the sun. I saw it myself - its hand burst open with blood and gore as soon as the light touched it.” “I, oh,” She paused and exhaled, “Most of the tribe will have returned by then. That’s good. Good. Did you see where it came from? Where it goes in the day? If we could find it while it slumbered, even this Thunder... We could kill it.” “We don’t know where Thunder lives - it could be in the mountains to the south or the forest in between - or anywhere for that matter. However, the other giant lives in a small grove to the south of here, hidden from the sun. I can guide you back there if we can assemble a warband.” “The tribe won’t be back until this evening, at best,” Ataket mused, “I hate leaving it, but we can’t do a thing until they return. Alright, then on tomorrow's first light. We root it out of its hole and pull it from the grove and into the light.” She eyed Vintr and went on, “I’ll need you to tell the tribe about what you saw when they return. Can you do that?” “Yes, chieftain,” he replied diligently. "Then today we wait," She spoke gravely, "Tomorrow, we hunt." [hr] [hider=Summary] Check it: Ataket has a tribe, a wall, and things are going well. She doesnt really leave the wall because her people are like ‘What if ya die and the god wants you?’ which is fair. Still she’s a bit bored and honestly worried if she’s living up to this whole ruler thing, She knows she isn’t, honestly. Anyway some people come, talking about trolls. That’s bad news. Real bad. Old Attie decides that she aint about letting kids be eaten and tells the tribe the gather. They’re gonna protect everyone! Well, everyone not eaten. Some disagree, but she’s the head honcho with the fancy headgear and you dont argue with bling. So the tribes goes out, then Vintr, this refugee feller, says ‘oh by the way there was one like a half day away.’ and Attie has a minor heart attack and is about to run after everyone. Vintr is like ‘naw its not as big as the big bad one, no worries. Also light kills em’. Crisis averted! Anyway Attie is like ‘aight well we still killing it, but tomorrow I guess. After everyone is home’. Vintr promises to tell a story about trolls to the whole tribe. Cut scene. [/hider] [hider=Might Summary] Aint none. [/hider]