Shautha Turnskull: daughter of the Stonelands
Jun 9, 2019 12:56:59 GMT -5
Lady Frost, DOT, and 1 more like this
Post by simo2003 on Jun 9, 2019 12:56:59 GMT -5
12th Hammer, 1383 - Year of the Vindicated Warrior
It began as whispered murmurings. Old One-Eye has a new champion. He will lead our clan to glory. Gruumsh will grant us victory. Garog, clan chieftain since crushing his father's head with a rock some twenty winters ago, and his clan elders had resisted at first, and denied all the claims. There were no signs. No portent to the shapes the knucklebones had fallen in. No shapes in the flames or the smoke. No holy vision granted by the splash of blood on the tongue from the ceaseless sacrifices given in Gruumsh's name, hearts torn from chests and devoured as ancient ritual demanded.
Before long, murmurings had turned to fevered roars. 'Urbuchek! Lord of all the clans!' Word had reached many ears by then, brought in by the clan scouts, the outriders and the hunters, that far way, Urbuchek had been granted powers beyond those of the other chieftains, and now those very chieftains served under his banner. In the following days, Urbuchek's own representatives had come to the clan and met with the chieftain and his closest allies. The talks had begun under a shrouded moon and the ground had been lit a lurid red by the glow of hungry campfires. With the grey light of dawn and smouldering embers, they had emerged from Garog's tent, red-eyed and triumphant. Garog and the elders had emerged too, their eyes alight with the fire of new purpose. The clan would join Urbuchek, they told the others, and he would lead them to victory.
For Shautha, little would change. The upstart girl, the loudmouth half-breed, they said, would serve the clan as the other women did, as Luthic willed it. The men laughed. 'When Urbuchek comes among us, he will take his tribute,' they jeered, 'and maybe you'll be girl no longer.' Urbuchek's men laughed as well.
For once, Shautha said nothing.
By the evening, she would be making her way south.
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