The First Age of Man

[Shayuri]

"That's so awful," Niraya commiserated. Just imagining being in that position herself brought shiny unshed tears to her eyes. But just as fast the sadness started turning into something else.

"I'm so tired of hearing stories like these. Every time it's orcs...orcs found the tribe and came and killed them. Orcs stopped the tribe from moving where the food was, so they starved. Orcs killed the hunters. Orcs killed the women. Orcs killed the children!"

She paced away to a tree and braced her hands against the rough bark, leaning forward with her head between her elbows to stare fixedly at the ground. One of those tears fell now; a little bomb of salt water that plished harmlessly onto the ground and was gone.

"I want to kill them," she said softly. "All of them. So no tribe of men has to tell a story like that ever again."

 

[Axel]

Tekai stood back as the older men arrived and took charge of the situation. Seeing no immediate threat, he was unstringing his bow when Niraya began her rant about the orcs.

Caught mid-action he was unsure what to do. Even by Niraya's standards this was a little off the deep end, but they had to appear unified and strong in front of the others. With an awkward and apologetic smile to the group Tekai crossed to where she leaned against the tree, just catching her last few words. He placed an arm across her shoulders, tentatively. And replied quietly, "There are too many to kill. Even for you."

 

[Piston Honda]

Odywyn looks at Sheng sympathetically."Geirvor's tribe. It seems you lot have found your own stragglers."

Raomohr looks at him as well. “We took in one of the survivors of that attack, Olgrid, buried her six days ago. Poor girl was barely coherent for the first month. Told us she didn’t see much, just ran with her husband, he died protecting her. Then a month ago, we met another man from her tribe named Ronvarl, he had been badly wounded fighting the Orcs. When he came to, the settlement was ablaze, bodies, everything. He did not stay long though, just seemed content to know that someone from his tribe survived. That one seemed unlikely to settle down.”

Palkr seemed focused on Niraya, as did Inguar and Seerah. Seerah moved close, an effort to comfort her, but not be too invasive. Inguar looked on in sadness. Palkr, however, almost seemed to have a fire in his eyes at her words. “Tis true what the lad says, there are too many to kill them all.” He gave a devilish smile. “However, they are not fearless creatures. There are places in the great valley that they fear to tread. The land of the cold ones, near the waterfalls that may be home to Näkki, my friends tell tales of a witch to the north…” Seerah shudders slightly as he speaks of the witch. “You don’t have to kill them all. Just give them something to be afraid of.”

[sblock=OOC info]Nøkk/Näkki are shapeshifting water spirits that lure their prey into the water. They may or may not be real (A bit of a folklore thing). Nøkk is the traditional word in the parts of the valley everyone comes from. Haven't really added this to the wiki, so fun information here:
http://grumpylokeanelder.tumblr.com/post/58436601649/vaettir-series-the-n-kk-nykk-nack-and-backahast [/sblock]

[sblock=Shayuri/Axel]Tried to send out a PM to the group a few days ago, and only heard from Voda, did you guys get that?[/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

"Those places are dangerous for us too," Niraya says slowly. "But...if there was something else they feared. Something that wasn't a threat to us...we could drive them away from food and shelter. Make a place where more than one tribe could settle without being destroyed. And if we could get enough of us together, then..."

She looked up and straighted out. There was a breathless terror and exhileration starting to bubble in her blood. She felt like she was sitting in Inguar's cart at the top of a steep, tall hill contemplating pushing it just a nudge forward and seeing where it went.

"Inguar," Niraya said, "Tekai...maybe I could do that?" Her voice was tentative, but filling with a wild and fierce hope.

 

[Axel]

Tekai smiled nervously. He wasn't thrilled with where the conversation was going, and had to speak up. "If it is so easy, it would have been done already. There must be a better way than we follow now, but the old way offers food. And shelter. And if it was good enough for our mothers and grandmothers, why should it not be good enough for us?"

 

[Voda Vosa]

Sheng Shemin

"What?! But... we... they kept a low profile..." Sheng closes his eyes, sorrow and pain transforming his cheerful and gentle features, turning his face into a mess. None of the others had seen him like this so far. He says nothing, and goes sitting near the trunk of a willow tree, grabbing his forehead with a hand, his bow long left on the snow.

 

[Shayuri]

Niraya looks at Sheng, then shoots a glare at Tekai as if to say, That's why!

Then she hurries to go sit by him, offering him whatever comfort she can...

"I'm sorry."

 

[Piston Honda]

Odywyn and Raomohr look on sympathetically as Sheng walks away. Seerah watches as Niraya heads over to hi, before looking at Tekai. “It worked for our mothers and grandmothers, but how many more never grew old enough to become mothers? We can follow the old ways until we slip up and get caught.” She lowers her voice, trying to keep it to where only Tekai and Inguar can hear. “We have power. Maybe it’s not enough. But maybe there’s something we can do…”

Inguar sighed, looking at the saddened Sheng as he listened to Seerah. He looked to Tekai, his expression showing that he understood what both her and Niraya said, but he was still divided.

Palkr got up when Seerah lowered her voice, allowing them their secrets, and walked over to Sheng. Kneeling in the snow near him and Niraya. “We’re all careful, but we’ve all suffered loss. Those two lost their tribe days ago, it’s been ages since mine was lost to them. There’s an old saying in our tribe for times like these, ‘It is the silence that teaches us to sing.’ Take strength from this. Take strength from wherever you can get it.” He stands up. “Otherwise, all we can do is survive a harsh world. Me, I want more than to survive.”

 

[Voda Vosa]

Sheng Shemin

Sheng manages a faint smile towards Niraya, "I... I didn't belong there anymore Niraya, it's just there there was good people who deserved better from life, whom I'd have defended, died alongside them... I guess none of this has any sense, crying over what's already done is foolish..." Palkr approached them then and spoke words that sunk in Sheng's mind heavily. He spends a moment thinking, his expression relaxed now, as if accepting the Fates.
"You speak with the determination of a dead man Palkr, and I do want more too. I will see the orcs pay for what they've done, and I want to live to see that day. We can't face them just with weapons and numbers, as they surpass us in both. But mastery over the runes, over what they fear the most... That could give us an edge." Sheng's face was back to normal, even more, determination was gleaming in his eyes. "Perhaps seek the aid of the Breathless..."

 

[Axel]

Tekai stood around helplessly. He felt like flapping his arms, and sitting down to cry as memories of his father and their time together filled his mind. And his grief, mostly private, after his death. Instead, he shook his head and let out a ragged sigh. "It is not good to act from anger or grief. It is better to have a calm mind before beginning anything," he said, managing to keep his voice from trembling. Mostly.

Clearing his throat, Tekai continued, "Inguar, where is the cart? I will bring it up, and we should share our fortune from this morning with your friends."