It was destiny. The people multiplied. Blood was spilt in needless conflicts. But now the Progressive agenda would be realized. The first settlers set forth from Keliosir, bound for the north.
Yusuanin led the party. He was a young man, fewer than thirty winters passed, yet capable. The Council had newfound respect for the young these days as the elder generations faded. Yusuanin himself had been a Guide for just two years, and before then an acolyte. Some said that his rise came too fast. The late Lasian, last of the old Conservatives, was the most vocal opposition to his appointment. Yet, after the death of Garmarfin during the Tsaya conversion expedition, it was clear that the strength of youth trumped the veneration of age. Yusuanin had been opposed by only twelve out of four hundred and twenty-three assembled.
The expedition itself left a year later than anticipated. Snows in the northern valleys were particularly heavy, and the excessive snowmelt impeded travel for a full year. None of the local peoples had seen so much snow before. Nor had Yusuanin, a Mardsira. They had remained in Keliosir. Some of the Council grumbled about the expense to the people, but it was clear than nothing could be done. The price had to be paid, and the expedition had to go forward. Early the next spring, they left.
Yusuanin had read of the earlier northern expedition. There had been some talk then of fertile land in the north, beyond the dry lands. Of course, even the dry lands had potential for grazing, but few in Kelios herded sheep. Yusuanin himself had seen sheep only once and eaten mutton only twice. It was grains that drove the agriculture of the nation. Perhaps northern settlement would change that. Yusuanin knew nothing of the long-term plans of the Most Revered or of the most prominent Councilors.
What Yusuanin did know much of was leadership. The men and women of his expedition were fiercely loyal, though they ahd so far encountered only good luck. The old stories of the first expedition had been of great aid in discovering pools of water and small streams. Streams ran northward in this country beyond the mountains. Yusuanin had never seen a stream that flowed north, but he supposed the mountains blocked the way much as they had barred the way during the winter. Plans for a road would change that, someday, but the rivers would always be an oddity here.
They eventually reached the river discovered by the first expedition. The goal had been to settle the region, some time in the future. It was fertile, and the river could irrigate the land. Yusuanin felt the soil give beneath his feet; it was lush and fertile.
The expedition had arrived earlier than originally intended. It was only early summer. The return trip would be made before winter set in, and they would return the next year to settle as the Council had decreed. The expansion of Kelios had begun.
Not as good as my earlier stories, I know.
