Over the next few days I really didn’t do much of anything. Those two suns were brutal and exhausting, so I took frequent naps in my tent to cool off (after partaking of a decent amount of cactus wine to help lull to sleep).
Dryden and Crisson communicated with high-command every day, but they obviously hadn’t given us any other orders except to wait around for the eting with the elder clan. The agents went out to scout every day, but I didn’t think they brought any helpful intel. The soldiers hung around the camp to deal with visiting traders, and we ended up building our camp up quite nicely with all the good trades we were making—got nicer tents for everyone, improved our firepit, even got a nice little shack/pen to house all our new livestock, had to increase the size of our clan’s circle to fit everything.
The researchers seed about as useless as , never went out scouting with the agents, didn’t want to deal with the visiting traders, and obviously there was nothing involving the Predazoans they needed to deal with. It was actually kind of funny, but one night , Lialonn and Thorrio ended up getting drunk together around the firepit as we complained about how we had nothing to do and how boring it was.
I continued talking with Eve when I had the opportunity for a little privacy, and I think after I confronted her and told her how lonely and frustrated I’d been, she started making more of an effort to engage with regularly. Still, she spoke in broken words and didn’t make much sense, but just hearing those cute little trills was enough to reinvigorate my spirit—at least for a few hours.
Dryden hadn’t said two words to since we got back to camp, but I was pretty sure I was doing exactly what he wanted to do—following the Lord Generals’ orders or whatever. I was taking it as a ‘no news is good news’ kind of thing.
Seven days and light fades passed before the Dennosh Clan ca to collect us—no ssage or warning, they just showed up ready to escort us to the eting with the elder clan.
I was surprised by how many of them were coming along, looked like over three dozen, with a large cart up front pulled by a pair of bulky kummos, the cart itself was mostly filled with trays and platters of food with plenty of casks of cactus wine too—a gift for the elder clan surely, grease the wheels for the deal.
Smiling wildly and laughing all the while, Calngar greeted us cheerfully and took a quick tour of our circle once we bowed him and his people inside. He raved about how great it looked and how well we were doing for being a young clan, saying we’d clearly been making great trades here in Coralia. He might’ve just been buttering us up since it was our statue he expected would get us all the elder clan’s blessing, or maybe he was just an outrageously positive guy.
Once we got ready to join in with their line, gojen rituals started up again as they wanted us to be properly placed for the sake of respect. Calngar was at the head of the line, followed by his wives and then the other clan elders and their wives. Next was Dryden, and since Crisson was coming along this ti around he was right behind Dryden. Calngar’s sons were next, followed by the elders’s sons. Then it was with Eve’s statue pretty much right in the middle, with Calngar’s daughters behind us. After them was the rest of our team, and both agents were coming along this ti too. Then after our line of soldiers, the rest of the Dennosh Clan and their cart with the offerings was at the end of the line, with a couple young gojens who were still undergoing their trader training at the very back.
The other half of our soldiers were going to hang back in our clan, along with the other researcher, Lialonn. They offered us fond farewells as our line slowly started forward back into the heart of Coralia.
Being in the middle of the line, obviously I couldn’t hear anything that was happening up front with all the leaders. Calngar’s two daughters kept trying to move up from their spot so they could talk to , but I was following my orders and only gave them the bare minimum, so eventually they grew bored and went back to their normal places.
Our convoy was rather large, so it took us a lot longer to navigate through the settlent, more than an hour this ti to get into the center of busy comrce in Coralia where the sand had been packed almost into actual roads, and from there we started picking up speed.
I couldn’t believe how close we were getting to the temple now—sure it could be seen anywhere in the settlent, but we were close enough to see the guards and worshippers and everything. We knew only the founding, elder clans were able to set up their territories surrounding the temple at the heart of Coralia, so it looked like Calngar had been able to co through for us after all.
Our convoy hooked around to fold the line up, and at first I was wondering why we stopped but then I realized we finally made it to the elder clan territory.
No wonder I hadn’t noticed right away, it wasn’t like the normal clan circles everywhere else; the elder clan territory had a couple stone buildings in the middle, with a very large collection of tents that had a few breaks in the line to give way for a pathway the cut right through the far-side of the camp. It looked much less like a normal gojen clan circle and almost like a little town.
I thought the Dennosh Clan was big with their hundred tents, but this elder clan looked like it was maybe ten tis larger, outrageously busy with visitors, and it looked like their stone buildings were even open to the public.
We waited outside the circle, but it wasn’t long before a gojen in a fancy black and gold robe with white head wrappings ca to collect us.
From my spot I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw the respectful exchange of bows between Calngar and the new gojen. The greeter waved his arm out in a presenting manner towards the clan territory, then escorted us inside.
We ford up in our line was again, and I could see pretty much every gojen in the elder clan was dressed in similarly fancy robes with gold, silver or white accents. Of course our team just had the simple robes, and the Dennosh Clan had nice multi-colored robes, but anyone could see this clan was a hundred tis wealthier than both of ours combined.
Their tents were large and fancy, they had multiple firepits, they even had straight-up barns for the livestock—a whole farm in the sand inside their camp. I saw what looked like a huge store of food with casks of wine piled high, they had a couple of their own wells dug and frad with stone, even a huge wooden water tank that looked like it would hold thousands of gallons of stored water.
It seed obvious this clan wasn’t going to move anyti soon; their territory definitely looked permanent.
The escort led us to a massive open tent that looked like it was fit for an outdoor wedding or banquet, with mostly black cloth framing it, but there were gold and silver streams and ribbons decorating every inch of the place, with huge flags and emblems displaying the elder clan’s symbol that looked like a golden hand. The tent was mostly empty, with so pits off to the sides with stone stools around small firepits, but at the very back of the tent was a massive stone table with a dozen immaculately dressed gojens, all in robes twice as fancy as our escort.
The man at the center of the table seed to be sitting on a large stone throne, with intricate wooden framing and more gold and silver ribbons. He wore a golden robe with a golden mantel, rings on every finger, golden tassels at every bend—gold on gold on gold. He wore a golden shawl that kept his face bare, and I could see the clan head looked absolutely ancient, cracked and wrinkling, with pure white fur framing his face, with eyes that looked dull and cloudy.
Our escort stopped our line just a few feet before the table and we spread out as much as we could so the elders could see all their visitors. The Dennosh clan was quick to bow low at the waist to the point they even put one hand in the sand to steady themselves, and then our team quickly followed behind them.
The old clan leader looked like he hardly noticed we were there, probably out of his mind with dentia or the gojen equivalent. Instead, a scarlet and gold-clad gojen stood up beside him.
“Welco new friends, to the Galgarian Clan, one of the settling founders of Coralia.” The man announced, clear and full of respect and tradition.
My translator let know Galgarian ant ‘Hand that holds the Truth’, seed a fitting na for one of the clans responsible in establishing the new religious settlent.
Calngar bowed once more, “We are honored to be in your presence, blessed elders, and we thank you for taking the ti to et with the Dennosh and Golvenara clans.” He said carefully.
The standing gojen gestured to the decrepit old man, “You will have to forgive my honored father for not treating with you directly; he carries his years with pride, but the sands have taken their toll.” He gestured to himself, “My na is Kelgorm, first son of Gorgrenn, and I’ll be the one to hear your voice this day.” He said grandly.
Calngar bowed again, and I had a feeling it was going to be a frequent occurrence, “We thank you and your honored father both for your hospitality.” He straightened up and gestured to his cart with all their offerings, “First, we’d like to present your clan with these gifts to honor you and all you’ve done in establishing this wonderful settlent where people have found refuge from their endless wanderings across the harsh sands.”
The Dennosh gojens started unloading all their gifts, starting up by offering them to the head table, then moving out to the gojens sitting in the side pits, all the while Calngar explained every little detail about the offerings they were presenting.
I thought before Calngar had a flair for the dramatic with his excessive laughter and endless enthusiasm, but as he started going on and on about all the jerky and how they tenderized and flavored it, how long they treated the cactus wine to get the flavor right, the fruits and the ti they took to cultivate them, and then every little stitching detail for all the cloth and materials they brought, I didn’t know if I could ever trust another word from the man’s mouth with the ridiculous grandeur he put on everything.
And yet the Galgarian Clan seed to love it—loved the attention, loved all the praise, every ti Calngar talked about how amazing his gift was, he then talked about how great the elder clan was and how the gift was only suitable for soone as wonderful as them.
He jerked them off for like two hours straight before we finally got through all the gifts and they’d been passed off to the other clan mbers, all the while we were standing around like idiots.
I had to wonder if Calngar was such a talented orator, why hadn’t he been able to score a eting with the elder clans before? Maybe he’d burned a few bridges and this was the only chance he had left—or maybe they just didn’t have anything worthwhile to present to the elder clans, not until he had access to our statue.
Once the ass-kissing show was over with, it was finally ti to reveal why we were really there; Calngar finally removed himself from center stage as Endynna and Yendern stepped forward.
“Honored elders, we thank you for allowing us into your clan and showing us your generous hospitality.” Endynna started, bowing her head low, and Yendern followed her actions. “We’ve co before you today with but a single, simple request.” She stood back up, “We seek your blessing so we might et the praetor, all with the dream we might be able to bring the New Light our offering in person.” She explained.
Calngar made way for our group to speak, but he wasn’t the type to give up the reigns completely. He inched a little more towards the center once more, “You must understand, this offering they have is like nothing we’ve ever seen before in all our travels, and even in our ti in Coralia. Truly, it is a worthy offering for the New Light.”
Kelgorm gestured towards our clan, “Present the offering to us and we’ll see if it’s worthy of our blessing.”
Dryden turned my way and nodded for to push the cart before them. Everyone parted around as I trudged through the sand, then stopped just before the great stone table.
“This divine statue was carved by our clan founder and kept with him during all his travels, we believe it accumulated all his blessings and luck, and we wish to pass it off to the New Light.” I announced, then stepped away so they could see the great red statue all by itself.
For the first ti since we entered the tent, old man Gorgrenn looked up from his throne, and his dull eyes widened as he gazed at the statue before him.
“Ooohhh…” He said blearily; though sickly, it sounded like he was impressed.
The rest of the elders at the table leaned forward, and I could tell Kelgorm was quite interested in the offering.
“What a magnificent piece.” He said, then leaned down to whisper in his father’s ear, and the old man nodded. Kelgorm left his spot beside his father and walked around the table to co see the statue up close, “How did he create sothing that captures divinity so well? Where did he find the materials—where was it created?”
I shook my head slowly, “From what we were told, our founder was separated from his old clan for a ti due to a terrible sandstorm. He was blessed by finding a secluded haven that appeared unsullied by any other travelers. Deep inside the forest he found a tree that called out to him, and from that special tree he created the statue and traveled with it always from that point on.” I nodded at the statue, “It was believed the statue blessed all his fortunes which allowed him to found his own clan in ti.”
Kelgorm kept his eyes on the statue the entire ti he spoke, “And this miraculous red wood, did he treat it sohow, or was that mysterious tree sothing no one’s ever seen before?”
I shook my head, “We don’t know, by the ti most of us were born or joined in with the clan, the statue had already existed for several years—three generations it survived through the harsh sands, and when we heard of this New Light, we knew it was fated the statue should find its ho in her temple.” I confird.
Kelgorm reached his hand up to touch the statue, and I looked over at Dryden quickly to see if I should stop him, but he just nodded along to let it go.
Kelgorm touched the statue, then jumped back quickly as though he’d been shocked.
“Oh my! Is it alive—does the statue hold divine life within?” He wondered aloud.
I had to bite down a laugh at how accurate Kelgorm’s random guess was, although realistically he was just feeling the intrinsic field for the disguise, or maybe the repulser barrier within.
“We believe divine life has developed within the statue during its many travels.” I added.
Kelgorm almost looked like he was a little afraid of the statue, certainly didn’t seem like he wanted to touch it again. It really made wonder what attracted the gojens to the statue, whether it was the technology they’d never be able to understand, or if it was Eve and her energy after all—or hell, maybe they just thought the angel-ape was a super cool carving. Either way, it seed to be working out perfectly for us.
Kelgorm turned to and smiled, then he turned to the rest of the clan, “I can see why you were so desperate to et with us; this offering is absolutely fated to be housed within the temple, and I think once the praetor sees it, he’ll agree with us.”
Calngar barked out a laugh, “So we have your blessing?”
Kelgorm laughed too, “You clearly already have a blessing with this miraculous statue, but yes, we’ll offer you our blessing too so you can present it before the praetor.”
The Dennosh Clan gojens all cheered and hollered, and then the Galgarian gojens joined in, leaving our small team looking around wondering if we should join in.
Before we could make fools of ourselves, Kelgorm slapped a hand on my back, then led over towards Dryden so he could slap a hand on him too, then started moving us back towards the tent’s entrance.
“But the praetor is a busy man, so it might be a few days until he can hold an audience with us. In the anti, the Dennosh and Golvenara clans will be our honored guests; we can feast, have fellowship, and your people will tell us what kind of blessing you and your amazing statue can impart on us in exchange for our help.” He confird.
So once again, with no real way to disengage from it, another gojen clan held us hostage, offering food and drink and the poison of endless, aggressive companionship.
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