Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
My gf finally let me go. I disagree with practically everything above. 
Orders sent. A story will follow soon.
Orders sent. A story will follow soon.
End of Empires - N3S III
- Thread starter North King
- Start date
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
Writings on the Hu’ut Empire
Throughout the most ancient of times, the city of Hiuttubupulosolamanos flourished by the income of several masses of grain harvests throughout the nation of the Hu’ut. Hu’ut culture, although narrowminded, was generally well-developed, and from the beginning of the formation of the actual Hu’ut nation, the general philosophies spread and shaped the state and the laws. How does a nation function?
The political philosopher and statesman, Erettibol, was one of the most prominent names just fifty years before the birth of the insane emperor Gepo. His were a number of prominent articles written after the spreading of the renowned Faroun play of slave men, as with the discussion in the Empire’s royal court was fierce about the topic whether or not to keep slaves. A minority of U’ufaranars (“Faroun-lovers”
wrote several letters to the emperor E’euhutolpo about the subject. The king, feeling pressure from a few of them, invited Erettibol to write texts on the topic, as he was the best and most brilliant of his court. Even though the topic was not tearing the nation apart, the noblesmen did still play with the thought of releasing slaves, and the replies would be interesting to read. The text is roughly translated from ancient Hu’ut and is therefore sounding quite difficult on our traditional English language.
Bid them who said I plunder, a free crow will fly from us
Say them, who want our slaves to release, we will do so again? Have we not sought our nation to be rich and wealthfilled? How comes a man to his farmland, does he not seek out the riches of his soil, plow it? And how is treated the wheat he harvests, is it poured down Had’debjat? These questions, harppara*, these questions you ask your well-being. Some have no response, some answer what they know nothing of. E’euhutolpo asks me consistently with sorrow in his wise voice: “Why, harppara, why do they not take lives of these poor slaves, if they find them so dead livers?”
Tabbalba** walked to a nobleman of Ioppson and gave him food and they joyously ate butchered a sheep. “Say me,” Tabbalba murmured, “How is the slave at your home?” Replying to this, the nobleman nod and said: “I have one slave for my kitchen master, one for my soldiers to please, one for my cattle to keep, one for my lambs to shear. How is it that an olive is plucked from the branch – is it not faster when two pluck? One to take it, one to take it from the gatherer and sell it.” He smiled. The speech between them silenced as the night became fast and wake. So, do these olives not get plucked by able hands, they are sold to the Trilu'um***. Harppara.
And so he travelled by horse's thunderfeet to the mile-far city of Jahip. The temples of Jahip were lightened by fires, and the stairs of stone were filled with Magio priests. Here the wealth of our nation is shared, here it is passed – here it moves on to those who rule, the power that stands in the fists of those who are bound to control. Greet the priest! And he did, reluctantly. The temple priest preached to him. “Such a beautiful day it is to us, alas?” he said, and Tabbalba nod to his word. Tabbalba sayed him, “How is the slave at your home?” And Magio wisely answered: “So simple are the words of the one who are befrienders of Faroun. I shrug, for have no wisdom them of nations?”
Tabbalba was confused, and Magio explained to him.
“Black goes a colour, so shady from the white sand out there. And blink does the simple farmer, pulling his plow. To pull his plow, he needs strength. To have the strength, he needs bread. To eat his bread, he needs fields. To seed his field, he needs a plow.”
Tabbalba nod to Him, and noted the wiser of all words in a letter. Such words only a true Emperor could say.
“Blue whispers silvery, the gold comes from the earth. For the Empire to stand, it must have one jewel to thousand men, and they the farmers have been for all time. It must have one jewel to hundred men, and they the priests have been for all time. It must have one jewel to ten men, and they the nobles have been for all time. It must have one jewel to one man, and he is the Emperor and devoted lord of the World, for he has none to share.”
“Does a farmer have a slave, the slave will make bread for the farmer. Then, the farmer has more bread to feed his children, and they mate. To rule the slaves, one must use spears and shields, for the hound will strike the one who has no claws or fangs. Houses host at nobles' homes. One mouth to feed, bread must be collected to feed that mouth, and taxes are collected. Such is the world, there is the stability, now we have peace.”
“Do slaves leave, then they must be free. How do these Farou-tujbe'eti hear the cries of revolt when a peasant pays in bread for nothing? How can nobles support this cause? Harppara. A system without, stability without, then comes revolt. Abolishment of slavery leads to none but the removal of nobles, the death of our nation.”
Tabbalba walked to an Emperor of Hu'ut and told him of this wisdom, and wondered.
*Linguistic researchers have found no direct translation of harppara. It was a word which connected sentences in Hu'ut, probably for rhetorical purposes.
**Tabbalba is one of the main characters in Erettibol's stories.
***Trilui.
Throughout the most ancient of times, the city of Hiuttubupulosolamanos flourished by the income of several masses of grain harvests throughout the nation of the Hu’ut. Hu’ut culture, although narrowminded, was generally well-developed, and from the beginning of the formation of the actual Hu’ut nation, the general philosophies spread and shaped the state and the laws. How does a nation function?
The political philosopher and statesman, Erettibol, was one of the most prominent names just fifty years before the birth of the insane emperor Gepo. His were a number of prominent articles written after the spreading of the renowned Faroun play of slave men, as with the discussion in the Empire’s royal court was fierce about the topic whether or not to keep slaves. A minority of U’ufaranars (“Faroun-lovers”
wrote several letters to the emperor E’euhutolpo about the subject. The king, feeling pressure from a few of them, invited Erettibol to write texts on the topic, as he was the best and most brilliant of his court. Even though the topic was not tearing the nation apart, the noblesmen did still play with the thought of releasing slaves, and the replies would be interesting to read. The text is roughly translated from ancient Hu’ut and is therefore sounding quite difficult on our traditional English language.Bid them who said I plunder, a free crow will fly from us
Say them, who want our slaves to release, we will do so again? Have we not sought our nation to be rich and wealthfilled? How comes a man to his farmland, does he not seek out the riches of his soil, plow it? And how is treated the wheat he harvests, is it poured down Had’debjat? These questions, harppara*, these questions you ask your well-being. Some have no response, some answer what they know nothing of. E’euhutolpo asks me consistently with sorrow in his wise voice: “Why, harppara, why do they not take lives of these poor slaves, if they find them so dead livers?”
Tabbalba** walked to a nobleman of Ioppson and gave him food and they joyously ate butchered a sheep. “Say me,” Tabbalba murmured, “How is the slave at your home?” Replying to this, the nobleman nod and said: “I have one slave for my kitchen master, one for my soldiers to please, one for my cattle to keep, one for my lambs to shear. How is it that an olive is plucked from the branch – is it not faster when two pluck? One to take it, one to take it from the gatherer and sell it.” He smiled. The speech between them silenced as the night became fast and wake. So, do these olives not get plucked by able hands, they are sold to the Trilu'um***. Harppara.
And so he travelled by horse's thunderfeet to the mile-far city of Jahip. The temples of Jahip were lightened by fires, and the stairs of stone were filled with Magio priests. Here the wealth of our nation is shared, here it is passed – here it moves on to those who rule, the power that stands in the fists of those who are bound to control. Greet the priest! And he did, reluctantly. The temple priest preached to him. “Such a beautiful day it is to us, alas?” he said, and Tabbalba nod to his word. Tabbalba sayed him, “How is the slave at your home?” And Magio wisely answered: “So simple are the words of the one who are befrienders of Faroun. I shrug, for have no wisdom them of nations?”
Tabbalba was confused, and Magio explained to him.
“Black goes a colour, so shady from the white sand out there. And blink does the simple farmer, pulling his plow. To pull his plow, he needs strength. To have the strength, he needs bread. To eat his bread, he needs fields. To seed his field, he needs a plow.”
Tabbalba nod to Him, and noted the wiser of all words in a letter. Such words only a true Emperor could say.
“Blue whispers silvery, the gold comes from the earth. For the Empire to stand, it must have one jewel to thousand men, and they the farmers have been for all time. It must have one jewel to hundred men, and they the priests have been for all time. It must have one jewel to ten men, and they the nobles have been for all time. It must have one jewel to one man, and he is the Emperor and devoted lord of the World, for he has none to share.”
“Does a farmer have a slave, the slave will make bread for the farmer. Then, the farmer has more bread to feed his children, and they mate. To rule the slaves, one must use spears and shields, for the hound will strike the one who has no claws or fangs. Houses host at nobles' homes. One mouth to feed, bread must be collected to feed that mouth, and taxes are collected. Such is the world, there is the stability, now we have peace.”
“Do slaves leave, then they must be free. How do these Farou-tujbe'eti hear the cries of revolt when a peasant pays in bread for nothing? How can nobles support this cause? Harppara. A system without, stability without, then comes revolt. Abolishment of slavery leads to none but the removal of nobles, the death of our nation.”
Tabbalba walked to an Emperor of Hu'ut and told him of this wisdom, and wondered.
*Linguistic researchers have found no direct translation of harppara. It was a word which connected sentences in Hu'ut, probably for rhetorical purposes.
**Tabbalba is one of the main characters in Erettibol's stories.
***Trilui.
~Darkening~
Weep, Mother.
Has the edit button suddenly become cursed?
No, the forums in general are extremely slow. They operate in fits and starts and it's getting annoying.
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
Edited the story due to better design. 
das
Regeneration In Process
4. Godlikes of the Cow Family Swear Revenge.
Two weeks straight to the east from the feast-tent of Eso Kotuu was the Arti-family campsite; one week by the nearer and more southerly path to the west from the Arti-family campsite was the campsite of the Cow Family godlikes. By that nearer and more southerly path, a godlike, one Uno, who was patrolling the forests and had by a stroke of luck avoided Darti and Kirti's godlikes-slaughter but nonetheless witnessed enough of it to understand what has transpired, made haste to the campsite of his birth. He rode so fast his horse began to collapse halfway through; he stopped at the campsite of a poor nearby human-family within the Cow-Family, and left the horse there to be looked after, taking for himself the human-chief's horse. The human-family let him feast with the human-chief and saw him off well, but many grumbled about his taking of the horse; two days later, an Arti-family envoy arrived by the same path and gave many gifts to the human-chief and the lineage-heads, and on the next day the human-chief brought the godlike's horse on the justice-place, killed it and declared himself and his family to be in rebellion against the Cow Family-Chief, saying: "The Cow Family-Chief is not the father of the Arti-Family; and though he is the father of our family, but he acts as though we are his slaves and not his children. It is one thing to expect gifts from one's children; another thing entirely to take them by force from them, or to expect them from more distant relatives!" For the sake of fairness, however, it must be noted that the Cow Family-Chief did not take the human-chief's horse personally, and that it was not at all his custom. "On two counts has he thus been injust; we are the children of Rortu, how could we tolerate this?"
Uno, meanwhile, reached the campsite of the Cow Family godlikes, which too was a reflection of the original campsite of the Great Family, and therefore was surrounded by a palisade and contained a chief-tent, a justice-place and an ancestor-temple, as well the animal-pens and the dwellings of the children. The palisade, however, was tall and thick and made of stone, and the chief-tent was made of wood and stone and towered over the campsite, whereas the justice-place was in the middle of the campsite and was paved with clay. Foreigners who had lost the knowledge of Eso Kotuu and the Great Family called the palisade a fortress wall, the chief-tent a palace and the justice-place a public square, but in this they surely were mistaken, for in truth their fortress walls were palisades, their palaces chief-tents and their public squares justice-places since their so-called cities were likewise reflections of the campsite of Eso-Kotuu, but simply flawed even further due to the distance in space - yet this they had forgotten due to the folly and forgetfulness of their animal-minded ancestors, and now were the bigger fools still for claiming that their things were not reflections of the things of the unbroken Great Family but sources to which the things of the Moti Great Family were reflections.
Uno was recognised and allowed in by the palisade guards. He left the horse to the guards so that it would be led to the horse-pens, and himself hurried towards the chief-tent - thankfully the streets were empty since he arrived in the middle of the seventh day, and most of the men were either outside of the campsite or in the chief-tent. When he approached the chief-tent, he was at last struck by anxiety as wrongness of the situation he was about to report became apparent to him; for the Cow Family godlikes have sometimes been defied before, by other Families in which case it caused a feud, by the Elephant Family in which case it caused betrayal and widespread warfare, and, yes, by the human-chiefs who were the children of the Cow Family-Chief, in which case the former were exiled and killed if they tried to return. But what happened at the Arti human-family campsite was something else entirely, whatever it was, and though in truth this something hurt none but the Cow Family itself Uno, who like so many of his close relatives had the mind of an animal, thought that it was a veritable sign of the Evil Family and the Evil-God gaining greater power than before, as strife grew and multiplied and new forms of treachery and disaster, never before seen or heard of, emerged. He steeled himself; it was all the more necessary to report this new atrocity to the Father.
---
Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono, Supreme Father of all the Godlikes and Humans of the Cow Family, had the head and body of a human, the mind of an animal and the heart of a bull; he very much cared for his family and cared for others not at all, and knew that humans within his family were in truth from different families entirely, but thought that it was nonetheless both good and just that they acknowledged him as their father and paid him and his relatives many gifts. On the account of those gifts, every seventh day of every fourth week was a day on which he feasted with all the godlikes and family friends, as he had much to feed them and to gift them all with, and also the godlikes were free from having to spend their time on tedious work, except for watching after the slaves that had been taken in war, bought from family friends or gifted by the humans, and collecting gifts from the humans. He was old; he lost most of the hair on top of his head, but in exchange gained a beard that was much longer than his knife, but much shorter than his arm; but he was powerfully built, and he very much enjoyed hunting and feasting.
On that day Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono feasted in his tent with the godlikes and the family friends, but of the latter there were almost none, and the former all knew and immediately greeted Uno when he rushed into the feast-hall, though a few soon noticed that he was dirty, tired and anxious. Uno ran towards Third-Frono, who frowned at first but then smiled and nodded, and stood up and walked to greet his returned son, thinking him to have been sent as a messenger by Kono.
"Hail you, Uno! What news does Kono send to his family?" - yelled Third-Frono jovially as he stood with outstretched hands in front of Uno.
"Father!" - Uno stopped awkwardly twenty steps away from the Cow Family-Chief and shouted back with despair in his voice - "Evil has occured!"
"What?!" - exclaimed Third-Frono, frowning again - "Come here and tell me." - and went back to his place at the head of the first long table, followed by a worried Uno.
"The Evil Family has arisen again, and has turned the humans of the Arti human-family into rebels." - he said more quietly but still worriedly upon having reached Third-Frono's ivory chair - "I and some of my brothers have been searching for the rebel leaders as big brother Kono has commanded us, but they used magic and found us first, emerged from the shadows of the trees around us; they slaughtered my brothers whilst I was catching up with them, and then went on towards their campsite, where big brother Kono and the other brothers sought to brign good and justice and redeem the humans from their corruption. I chose to follow them and to warn Kono - but I was too late, for the other humans had already risen and by force of sheer numbers they had overcome my other brothers, and..." - Uno's voice broke up, as he struggled to hold back the tears - "They killed Kono!"
Those who did not hear him at this point began to listen up more carefully, and some even moved closer towards the Cow Family-Chief's chair - for all those who did hear this gasped as one, and Third-Frono stood up again and his eyes blazed like the eyes of the Cow-Father; shock and sorrow had had their turns, but now the hereditary bull-fury overtook him.
"I... I thought of commiting suicide, but I thought that I must warn you first..." - mumbled Uno.
"Go!" - the Cow Family-Chief shouted at the top of his lungs - "There is no blame with you, Uno, but get out of here now and rest well, for tommorow you will be in the saddle again!" - he downed the remnants of the beer in his wooden cup and smashed it against the wooden table with all his strength: the table acquired one more dent and the cup shattered into pieces; then he shouted to all those in the hall - "Kono has been killed!"
Now all gasped; and the family-friend Rijjar of the southern foreigners, a strange, slender bronze-skinned man who used southern magics to count and stockpile the gifts and supply the chief-tent with food, goods and servants, rushed towards the Cow Family-Chief, followed by many of the others.
"Rijjar!" - bellowed Third-Frono - "Free the traders and recompense them their losses thrice; they did not lie but said the truth!"
Rijjar bowed silently and quickly departed from the feast-hall.
"Father!" - shouted one of the Cow Family godlike warriors; he was young, but older than Kono and Uno, and he already had a short beard as well as a powerful, athletic figure, and in this as well as in many other things he resembled his father when that father was younger; he was Itono, the immediate son of Third-Frono.
"Itono." - said Third-Frono, walking towards him and looking intently at him; Itono looked back and held himself from shivering, for even he was frightened of the bull-fury which made his father's eyes bulge and emit sparks and the cracking of fire and of human bones. Third-Frono spoke firmly, with a concentrated and controlled rage - "You shall avenge your fallen brother, my dead son. Take command of as many of your brothers as you need, and take Uno with you as well; as soon as he recovers, go east and gather the militias of all the loyal families along the way. I have been warned of this, and I have also been warned that the rebellion might spread. If you encounter any rebel campsites, do unto them as the Cow-Father did unto the Evil Family."
Itono bowed and walked away. There was nothing shameful in fearing the bull-fury, for even in the Cow Family all feared it except for one man, and that man's name was Frono.
---
On the next morning Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono butchered a cow before the sacred statue at the temple of Tikhupata Afono-Gog and swore that the death of the Cow-God's favoured children will not go unpunished. His animal mind was full of sorrow and powerless fury, for he was too old to personally destroy the rebels; his bull-heart beat twice as strongly and loudly as usual as he finished the sacrifice and looked into the cow's guts in search of omens. The omens were reported as favourable; but Third-Frono remained very worried for the next several months and even suspended the great feasts, instead devoting himself to the hunt and to his wives, as well as to drinking with his most immediate relatives.
On the day after that, Uno and three hundred fourty-eight other godlikes gathered on the justice-place armed and in full armour. Itono stood before them in a similar state; and he cut his right arm with a ceremonial dagger and let the blood spill into the ground. "I shall not rest until I am dead or my brother Kono, unrightfully slain by honourless rebels, is avenged." - he solemnly stated and jumped atop his horse - "For the War-Bull!" Three hundred fourty-nine voices returned the cry and the punitive expedition rode across the main street to the cheering of their women and children and left the campsite.
Two days and a half later, Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono's eldest immediate son returned from Moti-city. He did not visit his father, for he was at odds with him; so instead he asked some of his relatives, in whose dwelling he elected to stay, about the news. Outwardly his face remained rock-solid as he listened to the news of the human uprising, the death of Kono and the departure of Itono and his closest retainers; inwardly he smiled an evil smile.
Then he said: "The death of our brothers and our honour must be avenged, but Itono has never fought in a proper battle and he is also as inexperienced as he is overconfident. And besides, it is the mark of utmost folly to send one brother into the place where another already died, for even with more numbers and more knowledge he is still at risk of dying and thus failing miserably."
"That might be so," - replied his friend's and relative's wife - "But you will not go and talk with the Father because you are too proud and you will not go and chase after Itono because you are too wise."
"All of that is untrue, woman," - smirked he - "For I will not talk with Third-Frono because he would not reply to me, and I will go after Itono, but not before taking care of some things within this... campsite."
"So you will take more warriors, then," - sighed she.
"Why, that is true!" - added her husband, who until now did not know what to say - "The Elephant Family is waiting for just this, and it surely..."
"Do not worry yourself," - the chief's immediate son then said - "I speak of something else entirely."
And although it was a night, he finished his mead and walked off into the streets of the Cow Family campsite. At the footsteps of the temple that Cow Family-Chief Second-Frono had dedicated to Tikhupata Afono-Gog, he did not kneel, but stared at the star-filled sky and swore to his god a silent oath that the Cow Family's revenge shall succeed and the human rebels will be scattered to the nine winds. Then he swore to himself that those who had killed his brother Kono would themselves be brought down by him; for the eldest son of Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono, Fourth-Frono the War-Bull, judged the gods to be above his father and himself alone to be above the gods.
Two weeks straight to the east from the feast-tent of Eso Kotuu was the Arti-family campsite; one week by the nearer and more southerly path to the west from the Arti-family campsite was the campsite of the Cow Family godlikes. By that nearer and more southerly path, a godlike, one Uno, who was patrolling the forests and had by a stroke of luck avoided Darti and Kirti's godlikes-slaughter but nonetheless witnessed enough of it to understand what has transpired, made haste to the campsite of his birth. He rode so fast his horse began to collapse halfway through; he stopped at the campsite of a poor nearby human-family within the Cow-Family, and left the horse there to be looked after, taking for himself the human-chief's horse. The human-family let him feast with the human-chief and saw him off well, but many grumbled about his taking of the horse; two days later, an Arti-family envoy arrived by the same path and gave many gifts to the human-chief and the lineage-heads, and on the next day the human-chief brought the godlike's horse on the justice-place, killed it and declared himself and his family to be in rebellion against the Cow Family-Chief, saying: "The Cow Family-Chief is not the father of the Arti-Family; and though he is the father of our family, but he acts as though we are his slaves and not his children. It is one thing to expect gifts from one's children; another thing entirely to take them by force from them, or to expect them from more distant relatives!" For the sake of fairness, however, it must be noted that the Cow Family-Chief did not take the human-chief's horse personally, and that it was not at all his custom. "On two counts has he thus been injust; we are the children of Rortu, how could we tolerate this?"
Uno, meanwhile, reached the campsite of the Cow Family godlikes, which too was a reflection of the original campsite of the Great Family, and therefore was surrounded by a palisade and contained a chief-tent, a justice-place and an ancestor-temple, as well the animal-pens and the dwellings of the children. The palisade, however, was tall and thick and made of stone, and the chief-tent was made of wood and stone and towered over the campsite, whereas the justice-place was in the middle of the campsite and was paved with clay. Foreigners who had lost the knowledge of Eso Kotuu and the Great Family called the palisade a fortress wall, the chief-tent a palace and the justice-place a public square, but in this they surely were mistaken, for in truth their fortress walls were palisades, their palaces chief-tents and their public squares justice-places since their so-called cities were likewise reflections of the campsite of Eso-Kotuu, but simply flawed even further due to the distance in space - yet this they had forgotten due to the folly and forgetfulness of their animal-minded ancestors, and now were the bigger fools still for claiming that their things were not reflections of the things of the unbroken Great Family but sources to which the things of the Moti Great Family were reflections.
Uno was recognised and allowed in by the palisade guards. He left the horse to the guards so that it would be led to the horse-pens, and himself hurried towards the chief-tent - thankfully the streets were empty since he arrived in the middle of the seventh day, and most of the men were either outside of the campsite or in the chief-tent. When he approached the chief-tent, he was at last struck by anxiety as wrongness of the situation he was about to report became apparent to him; for the Cow Family godlikes have sometimes been defied before, by other Families in which case it caused a feud, by the Elephant Family in which case it caused betrayal and widespread warfare, and, yes, by the human-chiefs who were the children of the Cow Family-Chief, in which case the former were exiled and killed if they tried to return. But what happened at the Arti human-family campsite was something else entirely, whatever it was, and though in truth this something hurt none but the Cow Family itself Uno, who like so many of his close relatives had the mind of an animal, thought that it was a veritable sign of the Evil Family and the Evil-God gaining greater power than before, as strife grew and multiplied and new forms of treachery and disaster, never before seen or heard of, emerged. He steeled himself; it was all the more necessary to report this new atrocity to the Father.
---
Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono, Supreme Father of all the Godlikes and Humans of the Cow Family, had the head and body of a human, the mind of an animal and the heart of a bull; he very much cared for his family and cared for others not at all, and knew that humans within his family were in truth from different families entirely, but thought that it was nonetheless both good and just that they acknowledged him as their father and paid him and his relatives many gifts. On the account of those gifts, every seventh day of every fourth week was a day on which he feasted with all the godlikes and family friends, as he had much to feed them and to gift them all with, and also the godlikes were free from having to spend their time on tedious work, except for watching after the slaves that had been taken in war, bought from family friends or gifted by the humans, and collecting gifts from the humans. He was old; he lost most of the hair on top of his head, but in exchange gained a beard that was much longer than his knife, but much shorter than his arm; but he was powerfully built, and he very much enjoyed hunting and feasting.
On that day Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono feasted in his tent with the godlikes and the family friends, but of the latter there were almost none, and the former all knew and immediately greeted Uno when he rushed into the feast-hall, though a few soon noticed that he was dirty, tired and anxious. Uno ran towards Third-Frono, who frowned at first but then smiled and nodded, and stood up and walked to greet his returned son, thinking him to have been sent as a messenger by Kono.
"Hail you, Uno! What news does Kono send to his family?" - yelled Third-Frono jovially as he stood with outstretched hands in front of Uno.
"Father!" - Uno stopped awkwardly twenty steps away from the Cow Family-Chief and shouted back with despair in his voice - "Evil has occured!"
"What?!" - exclaimed Third-Frono, frowning again - "Come here and tell me." - and went back to his place at the head of the first long table, followed by a worried Uno.
"The Evil Family has arisen again, and has turned the humans of the Arti human-family into rebels." - he said more quietly but still worriedly upon having reached Third-Frono's ivory chair - "I and some of my brothers have been searching for the rebel leaders as big brother Kono has commanded us, but they used magic and found us first, emerged from the shadows of the trees around us; they slaughtered my brothers whilst I was catching up with them, and then went on towards their campsite, where big brother Kono and the other brothers sought to brign good and justice and redeem the humans from their corruption. I chose to follow them and to warn Kono - but I was too late, for the other humans had already risen and by force of sheer numbers they had overcome my other brothers, and..." - Uno's voice broke up, as he struggled to hold back the tears - "They killed Kono!"
Those who did not hear him at this point began to listen up more carefully, and some even moved closer towards the Cow Family-Chief's chair - for all those who did hear this gasped as one, and Third-Frono stood up again and his eyes blazed like the eyes of the Cow-Father; shock and sorrow had had their turns, but now the hereditary bull-fury overtook him.
"I... I thought of commiting suicide, but I thought that I must warn you first..." - mumbled Uno.
"Go!" - the Cow Family-Chief shouted at the top of his lungs - "There is no blame with you, Uno, but get out of here now and rest well, for tommorow you will be in the saddle again!" - he downed the remnants of the beer in his wooden cup and smashed it against the wooden table with all his strength: the table acquired one more dent and the cup shattered into pieces; then he shouted to all those in the hall - "Kono has been killed!"
Now all gasped; and the family-friend Rijjar of the southern foreigners, a strange, slender bronze-skinned man who used southern magics to count and stockpile the gifts and supply the chief-tent with food, goods and servants, rushed towards the Cow Family-Chief, followed by many of the others.
"Rijjar!" - bellowed Third-Frono - "Free the traders and recompense them their losses thrice; they did not lie but said the truth!"
Rijjar bowed silently and quickly departed from the feast-hall.
"Father!" - shouted one of the Cow Family godlike warriors; he was young, but older than Kono and Uno, and he already had a short beard as well as a powerful, athletic figure, and in this as well as in many other things he resembled his father when that father was younger; he was Itono, the immediate son of Third-Frono.
"Itono." - said Third-Frono, walking towards him and looking intently at him; Itono looked back and held himself from shivering, for even he was frightened of the bull-fury which made his father's eyes bulge and emit sparks and the cracking of fire and of human bones. Third-Frono spoke firmly, with a concentrated and controlled rage - "You shall avenge your fallen brother, my dead son. Take command of as many of your brothers as you need, and take Uno with you as well; as soon as he recovers, go east and gather the militias of all the loyal families along the way. I have been warned of this, and I have also been warned that the rebellion might spread. If you encounter any rebel campsites, do unto them as the Cow-Father did unto the Evil Family."
Itono bowed and walked away. There was nothing shameful in fearing the bull-fury, for even in the Cow Family all feared it except for one man, and that man's name was Frono.
---
On the next morning Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono butchered a cow before the sacred statue at the temple of Tikhupata Afono-Gog and swore that the death of the Cow-God's favoured children will not go unpunished. His animal mind was full of sorrow and powerless fury, for he was too old to personally destroy the rebels; his bull-heart beat twice as strongly and loudly as usual as he finished the sacrifice and looked into the cow's guts in search of omens. The omens were reported as favourable; but Third-Frono remained very worried for the next several months and even suspended the great feasts, instead devoting himself to the hunt and to his wives, as well as to drinking with his most immediate relatives.
On the day after that, Uno and three hundred fourty-eight other godlikes gathered on the justice-place armed and in full armour. Itono stood before them in a similar state; and he cut his right arm with a ceremonial dagger and let the blood spill into the ground. "I shall not rest until I am dead or my brother Kono, unrightfully slain by honourless rebels, is avenged." - he solemnly stated and jumped atop his horse - "For the War-Bull!" Three hundred fourty-nine voices returned the cry and the punitive expedition rode across the main street to the cheering of their women and children and left the campsite.
Two days and a half later, Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono's eldest immediate son returned from Moti-city. He did not visit his father, for he was at odds with him; so instead he asked some of his relatives, in whose dwelling he elected to stay, about the news. Outwardly his face remained rock-solid as he listened to the news of the human uprising, the death of Kono and the departure of Itono and his closest retainers; inwardly he smiled an evil smile.
Then he said: "The death of our brothers and our honour must be avenged, but Itono has never fought in a proper battle and he is also as inexperienced as he is overconfident. And besides, it is the mark of utmost folly to send one brother into the place where another already died, for even with more numbers and more knowledge he is still at risk of dying and thus failing miserably."
"That might be so," - replied his friend's and relative's wife - "But you will not go and talk with the Father because you are too proud and you will not go and chase after Itono because you are too wise."
"All of that is untrue, woman," - smirked he - "For I will not talk with Third-Frono because he would not reply to me, and I will go after Itono, but not before taking care of some things within this... campsite."
"So you will take more warriors, then," - sighed she.
"Why, that is true!" - added her husband, who until now did not know what to say - "The Elephant Family is waiting for just this, and it surely..."
"Do not worry yourself," - the chief's immediate son then said - "I speak of something else entirely."
And although it was a night, he finished his mead and walked off into the streets of the Cow Family campsite. At the footsteps of the temple that Cow Family-Chief Second-Frono had dedicated to Tikhupata Afono-Gog, he did not kneel, but stared at the star-filled sky and swore to his god a silent oath that the Cow Family's revenge shall succeed and the human rebels will be scattered to the nine winds. Then he swore to himself that those who had killed his brother Kono would themselves be brought down by him; for the eldest son of Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono, Fourth-Frono the War-Bull, judged the gods to be above his father and himself alone to be above the gods.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
Pazyilia Goquztie
Who can say that they have not done some evil in life? There is no good or evil, simply choices. In the end, only the soul matters. Nabujia Xarjie of the Ernsai
Are you done yet?
The boy could do nothing but glance at the noble towering over him before continuing his incessant vomiting. The period of silence was periodically interrupted by the contents of his stomach being forcefully wrenched out. After a while, it stopped only because there was nothing left to vomit. It had been the young mans first battle.
The boys name was Soku, Soku Baiji of the Zaira.
He looked up at the noble, his uncle, who he had come to know for the last few years. Panseo (Viscount) Toya Baiji of the Zaira, veteran of countless battles and minor skirmishes, had been reassigned to this obscure frontier posting by the Duke of Liang. Even now, he knew his uncle showed nothing of the emotions he must have felt. From having once been the Dukes right-hand man, to now a local garrison commander in the obscure south.
Well Soku? Now you realize the truth of the Ichenga ideals; unhesitating certainty in the face of all dangers. War is not the beautiful prose that great warriors write of. For who wants to see and feel the pain? Men speared to death, cut and hacked to pieces. Entrails pouring from their limp and dying bodies are what we do. We are warriors, and that is what we do.
Yet when Lord Toya Baiji looked at his nephews eyes, there were no comprehension. The eyes held no light, and were merely dilated in pure animal terror. To him, it was better this way, much better that a young warriors first kill in life be in a small skirmish then the tumult and confusion of a battle.
Lord Toya Baiji was without a doubt, one of the finest Ichenga ever produced by the Zaira clan. And the Zaira had a very prestigious history. Their ancestor, Naili Baiji had formed the Zaira clan. His origin was one which all of the Zaira defended with a religious zeal against both friends and foes. Rising from obscurity, Naili Baiji had ascended the ladder of military success with Liang Hao. Serving his master, he had left a legacy of unflinching loyalty and obedience.
At Haos command, Naili had slaughtered anyone who had dared defy his master. Yet when the time came for Liang to establish the Duchy in the face of Shus power, it was demanded of him by many lords that Naili be executed before Hao could claim the princely title. Divided between his love of his most faithful servant and his need for military strength to fight Shu, Hao turned to Naili with his problem and asked for a solution.
In a moment enshrined throughout all of the post-Ming states and worshipped as the height of the Ichenga values, Naili offered to commit ritual suicide. It would be a suicide in the most gruesome and terrible manner that would have appeased the lords and showed the world that Naili Baiji did not fear death. It was said that on the appointed hour of the fatal day that his enemies crowded the public spectacle as far as the eye could see.
All said he died well, with the honor and dignity of a warrior, a glorious death for a commoner. And he died a heroic one, under his familys eyes. The only thing his teen son, Kurai Baiji, remembered was that Duke Liang Hao dealt the mercy blow after Naili Baiji had painfully stabbed his inner organs and was slowly bleeding to death. From that day onward, Kurai Baiji would not forget the machinations of Shu which had resulted in his heroic end.
Yet in the end, war came. Shu came. Dongchan fell to the Shu hordes and was left a smoldering ruin of a capital. Liang Hao fled west, to his outermost seat of authority at Naiji. There, he prepared to make his last stand against the might of Shu.
Liang Hao was saved by the grace of Heaven. As the sun began setting that day, it was blotted out and darkness came upon the battlefield. As the Shu forces shrank in terror from the sight of the lightless sun, the Liang forces were rejuvenated and led by a certain young noble, the Liang victory at Leidai was decisive. The Shu army was defeated but their Duke managed to escape.
Knowing that the Duke of Shu could manage to rally more armies against Liang if given the time, Duke Hao of Liang led his small but battle-hardened army in an attack on Shu itself. Near the ruins of the city of Dongchan, the Battle of Kurzi marked the high water point of the power of the Duchy of Liang. At its conclusion, Liang was the undisputed master of the Wennan Basin and was poised to re-unify the Empire.
Duke Haos untimely death unraveled everything. War returned to ravage the lands and Liang was pushed back, not retreating due to enemy troops, but due to internal dissent. Liang would have ended that day, if not for Kurai Baiji. Seizing military and civil command, he crushed the rebelling lords and executed them en masse for their disloyalty. When it was over, he returned Liang Haos grandson to the crown.
That was the Zaira clans claim to fame.
Now as Lord Toya Baiji of the Zaira looked into the eyes of his shocked nephew Soku, he had no words of comfort to offer him. Putting his arms on his shoulders and lifting Sokus head so that his eyes could look into his own, Toya Baijis eyes bored a hole into the eyes of his nephew.
Weakness does not make one a coward. A coward is one who has weakness but chooses to embrace it. Men are those who have weaknesses but have chosen to surpass them.
das
Regeneration In Process
OOC: Yes, this is becoming a bit more drawn-out than intended (hopefully not too tedious, though); then again, it might be for the best, and I certainly can't skip past all of those details whilst remaining faithful to my original idea.
IC:
5. The Human Rebels Prepare for Battle.
While Frono the War-Bull swore his silent oath to his god and himself in the Cow Family-campsite, and while his younger immediate brother Itono swore mercy towards the surviving men of the Rortu human-family that has been deceived by the shaman-son Darti Left-Ear into futile rebellion, whereas Uno, the godlike warrior, cut off the captive Rortu human-chief's head in the justice-place as family-law-prescribed punishment for the slaying of a horse belonging to a godlike - on that same day Darti, Kirti and human-chief Fiti held council in the Arti-family chief-tent.
It was in the evening, and so the family-council was already over and the chief-tent was empty but for the three of them and human-chief Fiti's wife and younger immediate son; the son, however, was asleep. Now, it was customary for all decisions to be approved by the family-council, but there was no subversion in holding council amongst the three men, for the wealthiest lineage-heads and the elders were loyal to human-chief Fiti, the hunters all respected and followed Kirti despite his youth and preference for solitude, and everybody else was devoted to Darti. Old human-chief Fiti sat at the head of the old wooden table; Darti, who was much younger, was at his right hand and Kirti, who was the youngest though not by much, at the left.
"All the godlikes within the nearby forests have been slain or chased out," - said Kirti - "There is, however, a caravan of well-armed foreigners to the east. I and those who would follow me will hunt them and their goods down tommorow morning before they could move on."
"That is good," - decided Darti - "But have there been no news of Yereti?"
"Father is still nowhere to be found," - shrugged Kirti - "But we should be able to gift the foreigner-goods to the bandits in exchange for a permission to look for him in their campsite and in the north."
Darti looked at Fiti, the human-chief and father of all the men in the Arti-family, who still remained silent.
"Perhaps it is unnecessary to search for your and mine immediate father," - offered Darti Left-Ear - "He ran away without a warning and will surely return without a warning as well. He cannot be found before he determines to be found himself. We should look for our enemies and not for our own shaman; and goods are best given to our allies and to our hunters so that they would fight better and with greater devotion."
Kirti did not reply.
"Besides," - added Darti - "who is to know if he will not just disappear again? It would be better if human-chief Fiti were to continue to reign regardless, as he is both respected and reliable, and our uprising requires certaincy even more than it requires luck; without luck we cannot win, but without certaincy we shall surely and quickly fail."
"There is no need for this," - replied Fiti at last - "I shall be the human-chief only for as long as the true human-chief, who is Yereti, does not return; and the sooner that happens the better it will be for the uprising. Remember - Yereti has prepared the uprising and his escape too had helped put it into motion; it is imperative that we find him and reinstate him as soon as possible."
"It would be useful," - conceded Darti - "But there are more urgent needs everywhere!"
"Urgent needs?" - asked Fiti, his white eyebrows arching up - "Is not the uprising going well so far? We have been joined by the Inu, the Hirti and the Torta; and I am certain that the Rortu have already joined us as well. The bandits have not yet sworn to help us, but the skirmishes are over and they will doubtless have to take action against the injust godlikes when they do invade. The Cow Family will soon attack us, but has not yet done so; now we have the time to search for our chief; later it would indeed be an unacceptable folly!"
"The Cow Family has not yet arrived, but that is exactly why we must prepare our defenses while we still can do so in peace." - replied Darti.
"I agree with my immediate brother." - said Kirti.
"Then so be it," - said Fiti after some hesitation - "Still, I urge you not to forget about your father."
"For now, you are our father." - said Darti and bowed.
Kirti remained silent. For some time afterwards the three men discussed the plans for patrols, for traps and for the raid on the caravan, and afterwards they dispersed: Darti went to visit the lineage-heads to discuss the fate of the spoils from the caravan, Kirti went to patrol the lands around the campsite by himself and Fiti stayed in the chief-tent and talked with his wife, and the two of them came to the conclusion that Darti was brave and cunning, but unwise, whereas Kirti was strong and wise, but doomed to remain in his brother's shadow, and that both were indispensible, though not as indispensible as Yereti, of whom nothing has been heard for over a month.
---
In the end, a compromise was reached with regards to the foreign trader caravan, and on the morning Kirti and twenty other hunters came upon the trader camp. There were twenty-four traders, all of them armed and initiated in bloodshed, for no other kind of foreign traders dared travel through those lands since the days of the great-grandfathers. They were, nonetheless, asleep and unforewarned, and Kirti and his hunters were able to encircle the trader camp and kill several traders with javelins and slings. Others rushed out of their primitive tents and grabbed their weapons; but many of the mwere also struck down, whereas the others were faced by strong, brave young men with spears, axes and swords. The trader swords were better, but the traders were now fewer and often surrounded; and so even though they had tried to fight back they were soon cut down. The goods were brought back to the campsite and counted by Darti and the lineage heads; a quarter was distributed amongst the hunters who participated in the raid and their lineages, another quarter was distributed amongst the other men of the Arti-family and the remaining half was added to the war-treasury; but a half of that half then went to the lineage-heads and to Darti himself, whereas some of what remained was soon sent to the ruling lineages of the nearby families. No envoys were sent to the bandit camp, for as Darti said, "they shall fight the injust godlikes regardless of gifts when they flood the forests and force everyone to fight for themselves."
---
Two more days passed and on the morning of the third day Kirti and Darti heard out an Arti hunter who had been near the Rortu campsite; this hunter said that the Rortu family had indeed risen up against the Cow Family, but scarcely a day had passed before Itono, the second surviving immediate son of Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono, attacked the campsite at the head of seven hundred brothers, all on horseback and in full armour. The Rortu kept away the horses by planting stakes in nearby terrain, but the godlikes simply dismounted and hacked their way into the campsite and towards the justice-place, and by this point the Rortu were so utterly defeated and terrified that their human-chief repented and turned himself over in exchange for mercy for his family, which was granted. Then Itono made many of those same men that had fought him join his army and marched further east, and family after family greeted him and gave him its best sons as warriors.
The brothers thanked the hunter and told him to get some rest. Kirti thought that the fall of Rortu was to be expected and that the numbers and power of the godlikes was probably formidable, but still very much exaggerated for it is known that the frightened see in triples and that the Cow Family godlikes could be very frightening in battle, and can also use maneuvers and other forms of magic so as to deceive their enemies as to their numbers. Darti thought: "Itono is going to be blinded by revenge; he can be ambushed and harried, and more time will then be won for the preparations. But the human-chief... If Itono were to enter the campsite, would not Fiti turn himself over in exchange for mercy as well, thus ending the resistance before it could start? Would it not be farsighted to avert this?" He then stopped, reminding himself that removing Fiti for whatever reason and in whatever way would be a greater evil than letting him reign.
When Fiti heard this, he assembled the family-council, which was attended by representatives from the three nearby families, and declared: "The unjust godlikes of the Cow Family, who are not in truth our fathers even now march upon us, seeking to spread evil and injustice and to fully reduce us to slavery. In this way they are furthering the cause of the Evil Family, of which they are a reflection; and we are a reflection of the Good Council, for we are an alliance of families willing to stand up to evil and injustice of kin-slavers. Therefore there will be much suffering and many deaths, but the reflection of the Evil Family will be defeated and scattered to the nine winds. If the opposite were to happen, it would be a horrible blow to the world; but if what I have said happens, the world will be healed and will thrive. Therefore it shall be a wise investment indeed for all of us to put aside the hoe and the fish-net, and to take up spear, sword and axe, javelin, bow and arrow, and devote all our time for the next seven days to combat, patrol and preparation; and also we must turn away from our petty feuds with our neighbours and instead stand as one against the godlikes."
All agreed that what he advised was wise and just, and the men of the Arti-family all started preparing for battle, whereas many of the men of Inu-family and Torta-family soon came to join them and also to hunt in the less patrolled of the Arti-family traditional lands. For two more days all the men trained and patrolled, stoping only to eat and sleep. Finally, on the third day a man on a horse rode up to the campsite and declared that he had urgent news; and what those news were shall be told later.
IC:
5. The Human Rebels Prepare for Battle.
While Frono the War-Bull swore his silent oath to his god and himself in the Cow Family-campsite, and while his younger immediate brother Itono swore mercy towards the surviving men of the Rortu human-family that has been deceived by the shaman-son Darti Left-Ear into futile rebellion, whereas Uno, the godlike warrior, cut off the captive Rortu human-chief's head in the justice-place as family-law-prescribed punishment for the slaying of a horse belonging to a godlike - on that same day Darti, Kirti and human-chief Fiti held council in the Arti-family chief-tent.
It was in the evening, and so the family-council was already over and the chief-tent was empty but for the three of them and human-chief Fiti's wife and younger immediate son; the son, however, was asleep. Now, it was customary for all decisions to be approved by the family-council, but there was no subversion in holding council amongst the three men, for the wealthiest lineage-heads and the elders were loyal to human-chief Fiti, the hunters all respected and followed Kirti despite his youth and preference for solitude, and everybody else was devoted to Darti. Old human-chief Fiti sat at the head of the old wooden table; Darti, who was much younger, was at his right hand and Kirti, who was the youngest though not by much, at the left.
"All the godlikes within the nearby forests have been slain or chased out," - said Kirti - "There is, however, a caravan of well-armed foreigners to the east. I and those who would follow me will hunt them and their goods down tommorow morning before they could move on."
"That is good," - decided Darti - "But have there been no news of Yereti?"
"Father is still nowhere to be found," - shrugged Kirti - "But we should be able to gift the foreigner-goods to the bandits in exchange for a permission to look for him in their campsite and in the north."
Darti looked at Fiti, the human-chief and father of all the men in the Arti-family, who still remained silent.
"Perhaps it is unnecessary to search for your and mine immediate father," - offered Darti Left-Ear - "He ran away without a warning and will surely return without a warning as well. He cannot be found before he determines to be found himself. We should look for our enemies and not for our own shaman; and goods are best given to our allies and to our hunters so that they would fight better and with greater devotion."
Kirti did not reply.
"Besides," - added Darti - "who is to know if he will not just disappear again? It would be better if human-chief Fiti were to continue to reign regardless, as he is both respected and reliable, and our uprising requires certaincy even more than it requires luck; without luck we cannot win, but without certaincy we shall surely and quickly fail."
"There is no need for this," - replied Fiti at last - "I shall be the human-chief only for as long as the true human-chief, who is Yereti, does not return; and the sooner that happens the better it will be for the uprising. Remember - Yereti has prepared the uprising and his escape too had helped put it into motion; it is imperative that we find him and reinstate him as soon as possible."
"It would be useful," - conceded Darti - "But there are more urgent needs everywhere!"
"Urgent needs?" - asked Fiti, his white eyebrows arching up - "Is not the uprising going well so far? We have been joined by the Inu, the Hirti and the Torta; and I am certain that the Rortu have already joined us as well. The bandits have not yet sworn to help us, but the skirmishes are over and they will doubtless have to take action against the injust godlikes when they do invade. The Cow Family will soon attack us, but has not yet done so; now we have the time to search for our chief; later it would indeed be an unacceptable folly!"
"The Cow Family has not yet arrived, but that is exactly why we must prepare our defenses while we still can do so in peace." - replied Darti.
"I agree with my immediate brother." - said Kirti.
"Then so be it," - said Fiti after some hesitation - "Still, I urge you not to forget about your father."
"For now, you are our father." - said Darti and bowed.
Kirti remained silent. For some time afterwards the three men discussed the plans for patrols, for traps and for the raid on the caravan, and afterwards they dispersed: Darti went to visit the lineage-heads to discuss the fate of the spoils from the caravan, Kirti went to patrol the lands around the campsite by himself and Fiti stayed in the chief-tent and talked with his wife, and the two of them came to the conclusion that Darti was brave and cunning, but unwise, whereas Kirti was strong and wise, but doomed to remain in his brother's shadow, and that both were indispensible, though not as indispensible as Yereti, of whom nothing has been heard for over a month.
---
In the end, a compromise was reached with regards to the foreign trader caravan, and on the morning Kirti and twenty other hunters came upon the trader camp. There were twenty-four traders, all of them armed and initiated in bloodshed, for no other kind of foreign traders dared travel through those lands since the days of the great-grandfathers. They were, nonetheless, asleep and unforewarned, and Kirti and his hunters were able to encircle the trader camp and kill several traders with javelins and slings. Others rushed out of their primitive tents and grabbed their weapons; but many of the mwere also struck down, whereas the others were faced by strong, brave young men with spears, axes and swords. The trader swords were better, but the traders were now fewer and often surrounded; and so even though they had tried to fight back they were soon cut down. The goods were brought back to the campsite and counted by Darti and the lineage heads; a quarter was distributed amongst the hunters who participated in the raid and their lineages, another quarter was distributed amongst the other men of the Arti-family and the remaining half was added to the war-treasury; but a half of that half then went to the lineage-heads and to Darti himself, whereas some of what remained was soon sent to the ruling lineages of the nearby families. No envoys were sent to the bandit camp, for as Darti said, "they shall fight the injust godlikes regardless of gifts when they flood the forests and force everyone to fight for themselves."
---
Two more days passed and on the morning of the third day Kirti and Darti heard out an Arti hunter who had been near the Rortu campsite; this hunter said that the Rortu family had indeed risen up against the Cow Family, but scarcely a day had passed before Itono, the second surviving immediate son of Cow Family-Chief Third-Frono, attacked the campsite at the head of seven hundred brothers, all on horseback and in full armour. The Rortu kept away the horses by planting stakes in nearby terrain, but the godlikes simply dismounted and hacked their way into the campsite and towards the justice-place, and by this point the Rortu were so utterly defeated and terrified that their human-chief repented and turned himself over in exchange for mercy for his family, which was granted. Then Itono made many of those same men that had fought him join his army and marched further east, and family after family greeted him and gave him its best sons as warriors.
The brothers thanked the hunter and told him to get some rest. Kirti thought that the fall of Rortu was to be expected and that the numbers and power of the godlikes was probably formidable, but still very much exaggerated for it is known that the frightened see in triples and that the Cow Family godlikes could be very frightening in battle, and can also use maneuvers and other forms of magic so as to deceive their enemies as to their numbers. Darti thought: "Itono is going to be blinded by revenge; he can be ambushed and harried, and more time will then be won for the preparations. But the human-chief... If Itono were to enter the campsite, would not Fiti turn himself over in exchange for mercy as well, thus ending the resistance before it could start? Would it not be farsighted to avert this?" He then stopped, reminding himself that removing Fiti for whatever reason and in whatever way would be a greater evil than letting him reign.
When Fiti heard this, he assembled the family-council, which was attended by representatives from the three nearby families, and declared: "The unjust godlikes of the Cow Family, who are not in truth our fathers even now march upon us, seeking to spread evil and injustice and to fully reduce us to slavery. In this way they are furthering the cause of the Evil Family, of which they are a reflection; and we are a reflection of the Good Council, for we are an alliance of families willing to stand up to evil and injustice of kin-slavers. Therefore there will be much suffering and many deaths, but the reflection of the Evil Family will be defeated and scattered to the nine winds. If the opposite were to happen, it would be a horrible blow to the world; but if what I have said happens, the world will be healed and will thrive. Therefore it shall be a wise investment indeed for all of us to put aside the hoe and the fish-net, and to take up spear, sword and axe, javelin, bow and arrow, and devote all our time for the next seven days to combat, patrol and preparation; and also we must turn away from our petty feuds with our neighbours and instead stand as one against the godlikes."
All agreed that what he advised was wise and just, and the men of the Arti-family all started preparing for battle, whereas many of the men of Inu-family and Torta-family soon came to join them and also to hunt in the less patrolled of the Arti-family traditional lands. For two more days all the men trained and patrolled, stoping only to eat and sleep. Finally, on the third day a man on a horse rode up to the campsite and declared that he had urgent news; and what those news were shall be told later.
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
I would recommend linking all the previous chapters at the beginning of each new one.
North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
Looks like this won't be wrapped up tonight. Saturday it is. Anything posted or PMed after this post will not be accepted. That is, no more late senders, or clarifications, or anything (mostly because I'm going to try to write on the plane).
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
Just one question. Will stories after the said post count in the update after this? (Hey, I do presume I'll survive this war.)
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
Presumptions are silly.
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
Shoosh you steppe noob. You don't even have architecture.
das
Regeneration In Process
OOC:
That's one way to do it, but I am presently leaning towards making an index at the end of Part One (which was originally supposed to be four chapters at most. Hence my concern about it getting long-winded).
IC:
6. The Family-Council Dismisses Wise Advice.
The man who had arrived on horseback said: "I am Sirti, man of the Hirti family". He was middle-aged, but still strong and virile; his face and his demeanor were calm and dignified; his weapon was an iron spear and his horse was plain, but strong; not the horse of a human-chief or a chief-sent envoy, but rather of a wealthy hunter or traveller. "I bring you grave news."
The hunters stopped him at the entrance to the Arti family-campsite; he waited patiently whilst they called for Darti. Darti looked him over and frowned; the Hirti family lived not far to the west, but he did not recognise the man. "Let him through," - said Darti.
After having drank some water and been led to the chief-tent, Sirti stood before the promptly-assembled family-council and reported what has happened. He explained once again that he was of the Hirti family, and that he was there when Itono and his godlikes arrived at the campsite. Now, before Itono set out the Hirti family was wholly commited to fight, but after news arrived of the defeat of the Rortu human-family, some began to doubt the justice of the cause; and many more began to doubt when news arived of the mercy shown to the Rortu; and by the time Itono drew near the family was torn into three parts due to differences in opinion - some said that they should immediately join Itono, others that they should fight and then receive his mercy upon defeat and others still thought that they should fight to the last, but the latter were outnumbered. Itono, however, arrived a day and a night before he was expected and the human-chief, with the consent of all the elders and lineage-heads, allowed him in and hailed Tikhupata Afono-Gog, and godlikes and humans alike feasted into the night, and on the morning the human-chief declared that the Hirti human-family was going to fight alongside its godlike parents against evil and rebellion. As for Sirti, he thought it shameful to tolerate this and foolish to wait for himself to be exiled, and so he went to warn the Arti family of this betrayal. After he had finished all those present applauded his justice and wisdom, and the good deed that he had done, and swore to their ancestor to speed up the preparations and double the patrols as Itono drew near; then all the men left but for Fiti, Kirti, Darti and Sirti.
"Why have you come here?" - asked Fiti.
"I have come here because I thought it shameful to submit to the godlikes without a battle after having rebelled against them." - said Sirti.
Fiti frowned.
"I have come here because I and my friends have persuaded the human-chief and the family-council to fight back; and now my friends and the human-chief will have already told Itono that I have sworn to do all that I can to destroy Itono no matter what is decided (and I can swear this to you as well). Therefore I have come here instead of waiting for myself to be exiled." - added Sirti.
"Why did you not try to fight there instead?" - asked Kirti, incredulously - "Surely your friends would have followed you if you were to attack!"
"My friends were amongst the first to greet Itono - and that much was planned, but instead of putting an arrow in his throat they put a laurel wreath on his head." - impassively explained Sirti - "And for that reason I have judged it wise to leave on the morning, after having learned as much as I could about Itono's plans by eavesdropping at the chief-tent."
And he proceeded to explain how Itono planned to have the Hirti men call the Arti-family for help against the Cow Family godlikes who had attacked a bit later than expected and were only barely repulsed. The Arti-family and its allies would send warriors to help the Hirti-family, and then those warriors would be ambushed and slaughtered by the godlikes; and if they do not realise what has happened then and try to hide at the Hirti family-campsite, then they would be allowed in and then slain as well. Afterwards the godlikes and the Hirti-family humans will march to finish off the Arti-family, whereas its allies will defect, having lost heart. The three Arti-family leaders then discussed this plan and asked questions, and Sirti proceeded to say that if this trap were to be avoided, the godlikes and the humans would likely not tarry any further and would attack the Arti family-campsite, but in so doing they would give a definite advantage to the Arti-family, especially if it were to continue scouting the open and hidden paths in the forests carefully.
"All of that is good," - finally said Darti - "But I have one more question. I have often been at the Hirti family campsite, and even more often met with Hirti hunters and traders; but I have never seen or heard of you there. Why?"
"Perhaps it was for the same reason I have not heard of you until you have started the rebellion!" - laughed Sirti - "But the truth of the matter is that I have travelled in the northern lands and in Moti-city for the last few years, on various businesses and also for pilgrimage, and have come back but a few months ago. While there I met a wise man and learned from him and from the world itself about the extent of the evil of the godlikes and have determined to oppose it wherever possible, especially inasmuch as there are many other powers in the world that would be all too eager to rise up and unite if only someone were to strike a decisive first blow. So when I heard of your uprising, I have immediately spoke out in favour of allying with you; and when it became apparent that the family might not follow me, I have decided to do what I can do myself to help you."
"Then why have you not said so immediately?!" - asked Kirti.
Sirti shrugged.
"Because it is irrelevant if you will not follow me either." - he offered. When Fiti and Kirti nodded, accepting his explanation, Darti frowned again.
---
Thus Sirti was welcomed and accepted both by the family-council and by two-thirds of the family's leaders; or so it was at first. But two days passed; no more news of the Hirti family or of Itono arrived; and Darti redoubled his efforts, going amongst the people, talking with them about various matters and every now and then mentioning how this or that about Sirti seemed suspicious. Sirti also noticed this; on the second day he tried to explain to the family-council what he had told Fiti, Darti and Kirti about Itono's plans, but many laughed and jeered, so he fell silent; and on the morning of the third day he left the campsite to hunt, or more precisely to wander about. Now, it so happened that Kirti had done likewise, but had the bad luck to run into a huge, enraged bear. Kirti would not usually ahve been so careless, and even if he had been he would have beaten the bear without much trouble; but many thoughts weighed down his mind and so he was caught off guard and throw off balance. The bear reached in for the kill - and Sirti finished him off. Kirti thanked him and then they wandered together for a while, hunting down several other animals and taking their meat, which was to be stored. On the way back, they exchanged words:
"Do you know why the family-council no longer listens to you?" - asked Kirti.
"Yes; your immediate brother has set the people against me."
"Why has he done so?"
"Because he is convinced that I am a godlike spy or something else, and that I regardless intend to deceive him and sow mistrust so as to destroy his coalition; nevertheless it is not true at all and your and his family shall suffer for his mistrust."
"And we can all rest assured that your words are true because?"
"Because," - calmly replied Sirti - "They are true and this will soon become apparent; but my gift of eloquence is insufficient to persuade any of you, so I think I would do well to let the gods do it instead."
When they came back, the campsite was filled with excitement and the men were moving to the justice-place and the chief-tent. Kirti asked and learned that an envoy from the Hirti-family had arrived on a horse fitting a human-chief, which meant that doubtless this envoy was an urgent one; the envoy was requesting immediate assistance, for although the Cow Family godlikes arrived later than expected they were quick to make up for their tardiness and the Hirti-family was put on the defensive, its campsite on the brink of being besieged. The human rebels were all devoted to fight to the end and have made clever preparations, and through skirmishes and persistance they should be able to keep the godlikes at bay for a week, but anything more was too much to ask for and therefore the Arti-family was to set out as soon as possible. Human-chief Fiti argued with the envoy, saying that more time was needed to gather the allied warriors; the envoy urged that there was no time for any of that, but was persuaded to wait one day. Kirti came to the council and was elected to lead the Arti and allied warriors; as for Sirti, he hid away and Darti became even more assured that he was a spy, saying to Kirti: "Sirti has not come because this envoy would not have recognised him either." Himself he was not entirely sure of this, though, and so after the council he found Sirti and asked him whether he would join the warriors going to protect his family.
"I have not come to you to see your men throw their lives aside in vain and die in a dishonourable battle! I have come here to fight and fight I will when you are brought back to your senses!" - loudly retorted Sirti and walked away. Darti shrugged and ordered some of his friends and relatives to watch after Sirti and to kill him if he were to try and leave the campsite; for he was regardless convinced that Sirti was a spy for the godlikes - although Sirti had indeed sworn to destroy Itono.
---
On the next day Kirti set out towards the Hirti family-campsite and was followed by one hundred and four Arti warriors, twenty one Inu warriors and fourty nine Torta warriors that could respond on such a short notice. He went by hidden and unusual paths that he had learned by heart over the years, and in a day they were at the Hirti family border-stone. On the next day the human rebels met up with several Hirti warriors and learned that the campsite was already besieged, so they hurried towards it.
It was in the evening, as the warriors came within the sight of the campsite, that the twilight sky was illuminated by incendiary arrows and the quiet forest was rudely shaken by the war-cries of godlike warriors; and what happened then will hopefully be told sooner rather than later.
That's one way to do it, but I am presently leaning towards making an index at the end of Part One (which was originally supposed to be four chapters at most. Hence my concern about it getting long-winded).
IC:
6. The Family-Council Dismisses Wise Advice.
The man who had arrived on horseback said: "I am Sirti, man of the Hirti family". He was middle-aged, but still strong and virile; his face and his demeanor were calm and dignified; his weapon was an iron spear and his horse was plain, but strong; not the horse of a human-chief or a chief-sent envoy, but rather of a wealthy hunter or traveller. "I bring you grave news."
The hunters stopped him at the entrance to the Arti family-campsite; he waited patiently whilst they called for Darti. Darti looked him over and frowned; the Hirti family lived not far to the west, but he did not recognise the man. "Let him through," - said Darti.
After having drank some water and been led to the chief-tent, Sirti stood before the promptly-assembled family-council and reported what has happened. He explained once again that he was of the Hirti family, and that he was there when Itono and his godlikes arrived at the campsite. Now, before Itono set out the Hirti family was wholly commited to fight, but after news arrived of the defeat of the Rortu human-family, some began to doubt the justice of the cause; and many more began to doubt when news arived of the mercy shown to the Rortu; and by the time Itono drew near the family was torn into three parts due to differences in opinion - some said that they should immediately join Itono, others that they should fight and then receive his mercy upon defeat and others still thought that they should fight to the last, but the latter were outnumbered. Itono, however, arrived a day and a night before he was expected and the human-chief, with the consent of all the elders and lineage-heads, allowed him in and hailed Tikhupata Afono-Gog, and godlikes and humans alike feasted into the night, and on the morning the human-chief declared that the Hirti human-family was going to fight alongside its godlike parents against evil and rebellion. As for Sirti, he thought it shameful to tolerate this and foolish to wait for himself to be exiled, and so he went to warn the Arti family of this betrayal. After he had finished all those present applauded his justice and wisdom, and the good deed that he had done, and swore to their ancestor to speed up the preparations and double the patrols as Itono drew near; then all the men left but for Fiti, Kirti, Darti and Sirti.
"Why have you come here?" - asked Fiti.
"I have come here because I thought it shameful to submit to the godlikes without a battle after having rebelled against them." - said Sirti.
Fiti frowned.
"I have come here because I and my friends have persuaded the human-chief and the family-council to fight back; and now my friends and the human-chief will have already told Itono that I have sworn to do all that I can to destroy Itono no matter what is decided (and I can swear this to you as well). Therefore I have come here instead of waiting for myself to be exiled." - added Sirti.
"Why did you not try to fight there instead?" - asked Kirti, incredulously - "Surely your friends would have followed you if you were to attack!"
"My friends were amongst the first to greet Itono - and that much was planned, but instead of putting an arrow in his throat they put a laurel wreath on his head." - impassively explained Sirti - "And for that reason I have judged it wise to leave on the morning, after having learned as much as I could about Itono's plans by eavesdropping at the chief-tent."
And he proceeded to explain how Itono planned to have the Hirti men call the Arti-family for help against the Cow Family godlikes who had attacked a bit later than expected and were only barely repulsed. The Arti-family and its allies would send warriors to help the Hirti-family, and then those warriors would be ambushed and slaughtered by the godlikes; and if they do not realise what has happened then and try to hide at the Hirti family-campsite, then they would be allowed in and then slain as well. Afterwards the godlikes and the Hirti-family humans will march to finish off the Arti-family, whereas its allies will defect, having lost heart. The three Arti-family leaders then discussed this plan and asked questions, and Sirti proceeded to say that if this trap were to be avoided, the godlikes and the humans would likely not tarry any further and would attack the Arti family-campsite, but in so doing they would give a definite advantage to the Arti-family, especially if it were to continue scouting the open and hidden paths in the forests carefully.
"All of that is good," - finally said Darti - "But I have one more question. I have often been at the Hirti family campsite, and even more often met with Hirti hunters and traders; but I have never seen or heard of you there. Why?"
"Perhaps it was for the same reason I have not heard of you until you have started the rebellion!" - laughed Sirti - "But the truth of the matter is that I have travelled in the northern lands and in Moti-city for the last few years, on various businesses and also for pilgrimage, and have come back but a few months ago. While there I met a wise man and learned from him and from the world itself about the extent of the evil of the godlikes and have determined to oppose it wherever possible, especially inasmuch as there are many other powers in the world that would be all too eager to rise up and unite if only someone were to strike a decisive first blow. So when I heard of your uprising, I have immediately spoke out in favour of allying with you; and when it became apparent that the family might not follow me, I have decided to do what I can do myself to help you."
"Then why have you not said so immediately?!" - asked Kirti.
Sirti shrugged.
"Because it is irrelevant if you will not follow me either." - he offered. When Fiti and Kirti nodded, accepting his explanation, Darti frowned again.
---
Thus Sirti was welcomed and accepted both by the family-council and by two-thirds of the family's leaders; or so it was at first. But two days passed; no more news of the Hirti family or of Itono arrived; and Darti redoubled his efforts, going amongst the people, talking with them about various matters and every now and then mentioning how this or that about Sirti seemed suspicious. Sirti also noticed this; on the second day he tried to explain to the family-council what he had told Fiti, Darti and Kirti about Itono's plans, but many laughed and jeered, so he fell silent; and on the morning of the third day he left the campsite to hunt, or more precisely to wander about. Now, it so happened that Kirti had done likewise, but had the bad luck to run into a huge, enraged bear. Kirti would not usually ahve been so careless, and even if he had been he would have beaten the bear without much trouble; but many thoughts weighed down his mind and so he was caught off guard and throw off balance. The bear reached in for the kill - and Sirti finished him off. Kirti thanked him and then they wandered together for a while, hunting down several other animals and taking their meat, which was to be stored. On the way back, they exchanged words:
"Do you know why the family-council no longer listens to you?" - asked Kirti.
"Yes; your immediate brother has set the people against me."
"Why has he done so?"
"Because he is convinced that I am a godlike spy or something else, and that I regardless intend to deceive him and sow mistrust so as to destroy his coalition; nevertheless it is not true at all and your and his family shall suffer for his mistrust."
"And we can all rest assured that your words are true because?"
"Because," - calmly replied Sirti - "They are true and this will soon become apparent; but my gift of eloquence is insufficient to persuade any of you, so I think I would do well to let the gods do it instead."
When they came back, the campsite was filled with excitement and the men were moving to the justice-place and the chief-tent. Kirti asked and learned that an envoy from the Hirti-family had arrived on a horse fitting a human-chief, which meant that doubtless this envoy was an urgent one; the envoy was requesting immediate assistance, for although the Cow Family godlikes arrived later than expected they were quick to make up for their tardiness and the Hirti-family was put on the defensive, its campsite on the brink of being besieged. The human rebels were all devoted to fight to the end and have made clever preparations, and through skirmishes and persistance they should be able to keep the godlikes at bay for a week, but anything more was too much to ask for and therefore the Arti-family was to set out as soon as possible. Human-chief Fiti argued with the envoy, saying that more time was needed to gather the allied warriors; the envoy urged that there was no time for any of that, but was persuaded to wait one day. Kirti came to the council and was elected to lead the Arti and allied warriors; as for Sirti, he hid away and Darti became even more assured that he was a spy, saying to Kirti: "Sirti has not come because this envoy would not have recognised him either." Himself he was not entirely sure of this, though, and so after the council he found Sirti and asked him whether he would join the warriors going to protect his family.
"I have not come to you to see your men throw their lives aside in vain and die in a dishonourable battle! I have come here to fight and fight I will when you are brought back to your senses!" - loudly retorted Sirti and walked away. Darti shrugged and ordered some of his friends and relatives to watch after Sirti and to kill him if he were to try and leave the campsite; for he was regardless convinced that Sirti was a spy for the godlikes - although Sirti had indeed sworn to destroy Itono.
---
On the next day Kirti set out towards the Hirti family-campsite and was followed by one hundred and four Arti warriors, twenty one Inu warriors and fourty nine Torta warriors that could respond on such a short notice. He went by hidden and unusual paths that he had learned by heart over the years, and in a day they were at the Hirti family border-stone. On the next day the human rebels met up with several Hirti warriors and learned that the campsite was already besieged, so they hurried towards it.
It was in the evening, as the warriors came within the sight of the campsite, that the twilight sky was illuminated by incendiary arrows and the quiet forest was rudely shaken by the war-cries of godlike warriors; and what happened then will hopefully be told sooner rather than later.
OOC: It is not my intention to annex the Hu'ut lands. If the war goes in favour of Farou, Neruss, Krato, Aya'se et al, you will still have a country.
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
OOC: It was kinda a joke parantese. I really don't expect that I lose.
I really don't expect that I lose.
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
No empire is static and permanent. Every victory just delays the final death. 
Vertinari118
Deity
Exactlly Thalayi each one of your victories is indeed delaying your death at the hands of the civilised nations by one more battle.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
Exactlly Thalayi each one of your victories is indeed delaying your death at the hands of the civilised nations by one more battle.
OOC: Erm... no. He'll probably go the way of all steppe empires, become assimilated by civilized nations before being ousted back into the steppes
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
I'm fully aware of that fact.
