Private Tales The Dawn of a New Year

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer

Alani Delkera

Daughter of Earth and Stone
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Alani had encountered the Ashlanders several months ago. Having nowhere else to go, she stayed with them. It was nice to be around fellow orcs, though her lineage was very muddled and she did not look much like an orc herself. She was distant and quiet, keeping to herself for the most part and speaking little. Though, she pitched in when she could, she knew better than to be a leach, and hard work was a welcome distraction.

The winter had been cold, Alani was not used to living this high up in the mountains but the lowlands of the spine had been her home so the cold was no foreign concept to her. It was getting warmer now, the ice and snow starting to melt and the earliest of the spring flowers starting to push their way from the cold earth.

Alani wore her usual fur collar but had abandoned the plate mail and human fabrics for the tribal garments worn by most Ashlanders. She welcomed the opportunity to cast aside all ties to her human heritage and their twisted civilization.

She sat outside in the crisp air of morning, the sun comping up and peeking through the pine trees to warm the cold earth. She held a bone needle carefully in one hand as she repaired a torn cloak. This morning there was a special kind of tension in the air, a kind of tingling anticipation as if the air and earth itself knew of the celebration that was to come. The very earth ready to burst forth its bounty at the start of the new year and the beginning of spring.
 
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It was not uncommon for Strmcaller Ashlanders to welcome people among their tribe. While most would consider the ashlanders themselves descendants of outcasts, of exiles, not all of their tribes treated outlanders equally. Orcish or not.
The Silverstones were puritan in that way.

It's been at least a few weeks since the tribes once more separated from their communal village of the winter sacred months. Preferring to now live in temporary nomadic settlements that change from month to month.
This was one of those new settlements.
Dosharan, that was its name.

Mabess slowly emerged from her chief's hut, greeting old Gorsgoya who sat on a bench by the exit.
One could only wonder how many more years this ancient she-orc will live.
Her eyes once more peered onto the tired village and it's dying campires from the yesternight's feast.
Seems like Alani Delkera was well awake as well.
»Fare well, Alani? « The chieftainess spoke warmly as she aproached her from the side, her stride proud as it should be.
 
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Alani paused in her work, as the chieftain approached. "I am well, though sleep has not done me any favors," Alani said, glancing up at the orc chiftain. The orcish woman towered over Alani but the chiftain never made Alani feel small.

Alani looked back at her work, tying off a knot and breaking the thread off with her teeth. She tucked the needle in her waistband and stood, throwing the cloak over her shoulders and adjusting her fur collar so it sat over the cloak.

"How can I help you?" Alani asked glancing back at the Chief, but didn't attempt to look her in the face. Alani had learned early on that that only gave her a sore neck. Besides, eye contact was not needed to carry on a natural conversation.
 
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»All is well, for now, thank you for the offer« nodded the chieftainess, finding a place to sit on and rest for the while.
A fallen log from when this section of woodland was cleared will do just fine. Only some ash had to be dusted off.

With her massive hand, she brushed aside her thick-curled hair and turned to Alani.
»You've acclimated well to tribal life, do you fare well?« The chieftainess pondered how hard it must've been to set aside an old way of life, though she could never truly know how Alani felt with the ashlanders, only guess.
 
Alani's lips parted in a smile, her little tusks showing. She had smiled little when she first came to the Ashlanders, and laughed even less, but now with the coming of spring and a new year her heart felt lighter then it had in a long time.

"I've been made to feel all the more welcome by your hospitality," Alani said. She then looked out at the many houses as more tribesorc's started to emerge to get the day started. "I used to live with my family in the forests of lowlands of the spine on the east side. The land was sacred to us and we protected it..." She grew quiet for a moment and her face fell. She continued, turning the conversation away from her old home, "I understand tribal life better than the ways of the humans in the big cities to the west." She glanced down at her hands, as she fidgeted with a stone that hung on a cord around her wrist. "I traveled there for a time but they had no respect for life." Alani glanced back up at Mabess, "Here things are simple, here they make sense."
 
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(I'm sorry for the wait! I'll be posting more frequently from now due to my muse healing ;) )

The she-orc's eyes glimerred briefly as a light smile formed up in the corner's of her mouth. Though as she listened forth, her head dipped slighty, her eyes hung low. The smile though, remained.
»Matters of the cities and towns, indeed.« A slight concern was to be traced in her voice.

»As we wander from land to land, burn the woods to make our home, leave it let it grow anew, I fear such life will come to an end for many of us.«
She rose her head, her mind clearly on the ashlander fortress being built at the side of a distant mountain by Dormak and his followers of various tribes. How much Alani knew of the affair she could only guess, but many a significant amount of ashlanders moved on from their tribes to help build this new place. What for? Protection they told. From the mists of pandemonium, from the encroaching hordes of menalus and the very shattering of the cities from mountainsides, being small was no longer an option.
»Have you heard of the city being built? «
 
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Alani's brow furrowed at the question "Only whispers... I don't exactly look like kin... many people still don't trust me." She looked and the ground and sighed. "If I'm being honest, I don't like it. I understand the desire for safety and stability but a city is not the answer. Cities and walls cut us off from the earth, and breed internal strife. Without our connection to the earth what is to stop us from forgetting our connections to each other." As Alani spoke she was remembering all the times she had seen humans attack other humans over petty arguments. She remembered the small orc girl who had forsaken her heritage and chosen violence in order to become strong, and of the humans who had insisted she die to satisfy their definition of justice. In the end both the girl and one of the humans were dead and what did they have to show for it?
 
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A figure loomed in the distance, approaching the encampment with limping strides. The creature, soon discovered to be another she-orc as she finally crossed through the lines of their watch and the waking orcs, was bloodied and exhausted. Twin hatchets rested on her hips, familiar in the way they swayed with her movement. Eventually, she reached where Mabess and Alani stood, talking, and she was most definitely worse for the wear.

But as a shaman, Bula succeeded in what she'd set out to do and her bond with the spirits of their ancestors was stronger than ever; it resonated with every movement she made. Finally, she let loose a sigh of relief.

"Mother," she said, her breath catching in her throat. She as beyond exhausted. "I have returned."
 
»In due time, they will learn to trust you. I only feel things may change irreparably within the tribes, as if we'd split ourselves forever.«
The she-prc brushed her thick wavy hair behind her shoulders, twirling the hair strands together into a coil.
She did not pin it.
Her eyes set upon the visage of her daughter, in the direction of the beloved voice.
»Bula? By winter's wind, « her eyes shifted between her daughter and Alani. She stood up and approached her daughter for a hefty embrace, as strong as a bear's. With hands upon shoulders, her face melted into a heartfelt smile. She took in her daughter, her every marr and tear that was new since the day that she left for her quest.
»You are home my dear, « she grunted with a grin before turning to Alani.
»Alani, this is my daughter, Bula. « Her face turned to her wethered child. »Alani comes from lands of man, she stayed with us during the holy season.« (winter)
 
Alani stood aside as she watched the reunion. The look in Mabess' eyes was so proud of her daughter. It reminded Alani of the look her mother used to give her. In many way's Mabess reminded Alani of her mother. Even though her mother had been a half orc she was tall and imposing. With a warm heart and a deep connection to the earth.

Alani felt a pang in her chest but pushed the painful memories aside as Mabess turned to her introducing her daughter. Alani bobbed her head and gave a slight smile showing her little tusks for a moment, "Nice to meet you."

Alani could tell that Bula looked exhausted. Had she been traveling through the night? She knew better than to mention it out loud but she also didn't waste her time with small talk.
 
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Bula didn’t like to think of herself as rude, but Alani was not someone she knew. Even then, it likely wouldn’t have changed the she-orc’s reaction to the introduction. She grunted deeply, lifting her chin as she observed Alani with her good eye. It was the closest thing to reciprocating the other’s greeting as she would come, purely because she had no desire to vocalize her thoughts most of the time.

Alani had no way of knowing presently, but more than a year passed from the time she left her home on her journey for answers. Her pilgrimage, that birthright afforded her by the calling of their ancestors, proved more difficult than she expected.The exhaustion written in Bula’s body language might appear as if it were only a night that she were gone, but Mabess would know better. Bula did not tire easily. Had it been the path of the warrior that called her, the she-orc would have wielded her weapons with the strength of two men.

Her body did not yield to her mother’s hug, and though great pressure was applied in that hug, the shaman showed no signs of discomfort. The corners of her mouth lifted around her tusks as Mabess let go. There was a smear of blood, previously unnoticed, upon her abdomen, and her armor was damaged beyond repair. Something along Bula’s journey did not go as planned.
 
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Mabess stepped back of the two. »What a time to come home, my sweet winter wind. I was planning to lead a hunt in a mere hour.« Her eyes gazed back at Alani, wonder if she'd love to join to occasion. »Perhaps it would be the perfect occasion to set one's mind to.«

There is nothing more than to experience nature from the point not of a watcher, but a participant.
 
Alani liked the sound of a hunt, her smile widened at the thought of it. She hadn't been hunting in a while, to be a part of the cycle of life, to hunt with a pack and immerse oneself with nature, it was not only exhilarating but a spiritual experience.

"I would be honored to join you," Alani said.
 
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A gentle grin teased lightly at her the orc's lips, curling them around her tusks menacingly. She'd lasted as long as she did in the wilderness already, and though rest would be appreciated, Bula wasn't the sort to say no to a hunt. The shaman's stomach growled as she shifted her weight, an affirmative grunt signifying both her wish to join, and the fact that she planned to take some of that time before to find something that might satisfy her stomach.

Bula weighed less than she had when she left, but considering the length of time she was gone, that was to be expected. She pulled her satchel from her back, dropping it onto the ground next to her mother. It sounded as if it were nearly empty. She had not amassed any surplus resources, choosing often not to waste and always giving thanks to the spirits for what they provided.

The orc stepped away for a bit, but not without first nodding to Alani. Acquiring food and drink, she returned a few moments later, devouring both as she stood before the other two, silently and hungrily.
 
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Mabess was pleased. The hunt was a way to honour their ancestors, and nothing more than to connect the generations, whether deceased or living or still unborn, to cease live so that it may continue on elsewhere.

Such was the cycle of life.
This was the lesson of the Ashlanders.
»Prepare well, in one pass of the sun past the tallest mountain range, we meet here again. «
She turned to Alani.
»If you're lacking in any equipment, Sheeha, my companion will have spares you can borrow.«

In due time when the sun passed, its first tallest mountain on the range. Mabess always hunted on her trusty barghest, however, ash leopards were set aside if either of the two wanted to ride as well.
 
Alani thanked the chieftain before departing to attend to her own affairs.

She returned to the meeting place at the appointed time. She carried a recurve bow, which she had supplied herself, most orcish bows being too big for her. She also wore a hunting knife sheathed at her hip. In a hunting party of all orcs Alani was nowhere near the fastest or the strongest of the group but she knew her small size made her an ideal scout.

Alani approached one of the smaller ash leopard mounts. The creature was so majestic, she thought. She petted the side of its neck and a deep rumbling pure cam from the beast as it closed its eyes and nuzzled the crook of her neck. She scratched behind its ears as it moved to lick her chin and face with quick strokes of its rough tongue. Alani giggled and pressed her brow to the cats. It purred and she felt it rumbling. "You are perfect," She whispered.

She pulled back and the cat knelt down so she could mount it. She climbed on absently petting the cat's neck as she watched Mabess for instructions.
 
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When Bula met her mother and Alani the next morning, she appeared little more invigorated than she had upon her arrival. Her body was tired, exhausted from so many months of traveling, fighting, defending her ancestral spirits as she sought their knowledge. Her stubborn pride could not be a barrier to her return to her people.

The she-orc lifted her chin, looking at Mabess and her mount. She watched as Alani swung herself up onto one of the ash leopards. It took her only a few minutes to strap her gear to the harness her feline companion wore. Hoisting herself up, she dipped her head toward both silently, nudging the large cat forward.
 
Alani Delkera Bula (rip my writing swamp)

The mother chieftainess gazed at both her companions for this hunts. Their attire, worthy of approcal, and such gaze she gave them, accompanied by a hearthly nod.
As Alani bonded with the fline, and Bula displayed her visage, Mabess could only feel joyous.
How well a foreigner integrated themselves into the code of the ashlanders.
How much pride and honour Bula brought to the tribe.

Last was Mabess to hoist herself upon the beast. As a last remark, she tossed a snapped bone into the air. Once it landed, it's sharpned ent pointed east.
that will be their way, now they only needed to listen for noise, watch out for tracks.

The cheiftainess began to lead the way.
 
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(OOC: Sorry for disappearing for a bit there. I suddenly had to deal with chronic pain and it just wiped me out. Pains not gone... I just got better at managing my energy. XP)

Alani urged her cat forward, following Mabess. She sniffed deeply, the sent of pine and cool morning air filling her senses. Glancing about in the dim morning light she noticed something strange. Her vision seemed different, she could see the warmth coming off of Mabess, Blua and their mounts. Glancing back she could see the warm imprints of her cats footsteps in the earth.

She looked in surprise at her cat. She knew that ash leopards could see heat. She was seeing the world the way the cat saw it.

Thing like this had happened before, where she mirrored creatures of nature that she had made a connection with. Like in the ocean depths she had connected with a giant eel and was able to breath underwater, or when she had encountered a race of mushroom people she had been able to under stand and speak their purely sent based language. This was different though, it was undeniable. So many strange occurrences in her past suddenly made sense.

For a moment she was unsure what to think about this new discovery, but she quickly reconciled that she was still the same person and it made no difference if she understood herself or not. She was a child of nature and nature had blessed her with this gift, she would embrace it.

Looking up and glancing around at the forest again she took another sniff. She could smell various woodland creatures, mostly squirrel and small game. There was a fox, and the faint smell of deer but the sent was old.

"Several deer passed through here about a week ago. The trail is a bit old but I could still follow it if you like, or we could press on to find something better." Alani said.
 
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