A Quest for Humanity

[Stormfollower]

The meeting was short. After the meal had been eaten and the appropriate thanks had been given Stormfollower stood. It was expected of him to filibustered on into the night, allowing others the space with which to consume great quantities of ale and spirits, but he did not. It did not take long at all for the edict to be clear. They were leaving. Early the next day. Almost 2 weeks sooner than planned they were to pack up the boats and head to the next island in their long migration. He made no direct mention of why they were going so soon, they just were and that was enough for the tribe. They trusted their shaman and were proud of his work to save the bees. With a few brave if shouts of support the tribe dispersed and began to pack up everything but their beds. It was not long before everyone was done and weary from the days toil they lay down in a great circle man woman and child to sleep under the stars. Excited about the future they were all ready to lope with new exhilaration towards it. Stormfollower went to the beach.

[Gilliadson]

Al during the time that the Shadowbanes spent with Stormfollower's people, P`Nala mulled over the sensation of lost time that she had experienced in the tomb just before Remis passed on. Deeper and deeper into her mind she drove herself looking for some explanation of the sensation...

[Jetamio]

It was dark but she barely noticed. She had withdrawn deep into herself, finally letting herself grieve for Remis. She knew also that she would lose Tajer too, for she was the one point of conflict between Stormfollower and Jetamio's otherwise good relationship. And now he would treat her with contempt too, blaming her for what Tajer was. Jetamio greived for many things that dark starry night.

[Gilliadson]

P`Nala travels the dark recesses of her own mind and into the area of long forgotten memories. As she views each one she stumbles across the scene of a strange necromancer lady pulling the spirit from Remis' body... The Enchantress begins her journey out of her mind, bringing the memory with her and depositing it nearer the surface where she can recall it easily.

P`Nala shouts as she comes out of her meditation.

"We have been had!"

The Enchantress quickly rises to her feet and runs to seek out Stormfollower...

[Stormfollower]

Stormfollower walked out onto the warm evening sands of the current Wolf Cult camp. He strode across the quiet space between Jetamio and himself. Standng close to her he waited to be greeted. His expression was one of cautious concern.

The moon looked full in the clear evening vista but by Stormfollowers calculations it would still be one full day before it had waxed to its fullest.The few Scout stars were out and began their escort across the sky. The ocean was calm and quiet. Only a few stray gulls broke the silence with their tremolo whistles. They rode the land-born thermals towards some nearby evening roost returning from a long day out gathering the waters bounty with the Bluewater fishermen of the tribe. A familiar young seabird dove and climbed with carefree abandon and the shaman had greeted him inwardly by nod and name. "Jonathan." The warmer winds were now in full season and the slowly flowing tide was just beginning its lazy blanketing of the shallows of the sea urchin rich bay.

[Jetamio]

She finally speaks, her voice hoarse from her day of silence and crying.

"You are leaving." she stated.

She had heard him approach but was afraid to look at him for fear of his accusing expression again. She kept her eyes on the moon, hanging low and huge in the sky. The tribe were moving on early, Tajer was too close for comfort despite the fact that she was currently no danger to them. She was mildly annoyed for all they had to do was ask her to move the Sanguine away, there was no need to move the whole clan. But it was not her decision, she generally had very little say in the way things were done, nor had she any desire to change it. It was their ways.

[Xar'Zith]

((This part took place in-game, but we decided to write it up here too as to not confuse everyone else ))

Tajer thrashed around in her delirium, unconcsiously igniting the magic of her blood on the Coldlight stone she had given to the shaman. Not so far away, he felt it's heat in his pocket and brought it out to sit on his palm. As he stood it's temperature fluxuated between hot and cold, while scambled images flickered across his minds eye. The only image he recognised was the stone hut that contained Tajer and on impulse he turned in that direction. He found the door to be unlocked and barged in, almost taking the half rotted wodden door of it's hinges.

The noise spooked Tajer, and she screamed in fright and cowered under the furs.

Stormfollower regarded her curiously. "What is wrong with you?"

His voice was familiar to her and she peered out from beneath the pelt of a snow leopard. She was drenched in sweat, her silver hair plastered to her face, but it was her eyes that concerned the Shaman. Her normally dark eyes were white, as if she was blind.

"By the Seventh Hammer!" he approached her, somewhat cautiously...who knew what she might do in such a state, "What has happened to you? You do not look well..."

She stared at him for a moment, and he got the feeling that she could see him despite the film over her eyes, before she decided that he was no immediate threat to her. She fell back onto the pillows, but keeps her eyes on him.

"Help me..." she said, barely above a whisper.

He came to her and examined her, surprised to feel her skin so hot to the touch. Despite her warmth though, she shivered continuosly and clutched the furs around her as if she'd freeze otherwise. "What do you need? I can fetch Jetamio."

"I don't know...Sanguine...never sick."

He cocked his head sideways at her and eyed her in a new light. He looked around and found a pitcher of water on the windowsill. He pours a glass and brings it to her.

"Try and drink this."

She looked uneasy, but her mouth was so dry she decided to chance it. Carefully holding it in her trembling hands, she takes a cautious sip and waits for the usual gag reflex to anything but blood. But it did not come, which filled her with both relief and uneasiness. She downed the rest, spilling half of it down her chin in her rush to quench her thirst. He refilled her glass and held it to her lips for her so that she didn't spill so much.

"You are no longer Sanguine..." he said softly, believing it at that moment. She finished the second glass and tried to hide the panic that threatened at his statement.

"Remis..." she whispered and she lay back down, her thirst sated for now.

Stormfollower nodded. "Maybe there was some of his mother in him afterall." Tajer shook her head weakly. "No... she did something to him...it was in his blood."

"You mean Jetamio poisoned him?" He asked, confusion in his tone of voice. Again she shook her head.

"She restored him to full strength...the magic still lingered when I drank from him. I did not think it would make me sick, even though it burned so much." She burst into another coughing fit while he digested the information.

"And now your soul has returned?"

Had she been well she might have rolled her eyes at him and his obsession with her soul. Instead she mentally touched the magic in her blood, causing the Coldlight to again heat up, singing the wood beneath it.

"That would not work if I were not Sanguine..." she met his eyes with her own pale ones. But something is...different." She took his hand in hers and guided it to her chest, where a rapid but irregular pulse could be felt. "It's like thunder in my ears...my senses are still Sanguine."

"I don't understand... maybe Jetamio will know." he looked perplexed. He moved his hand to her forehead and spoke an ancient word, asking the friendly spirits of the woods to help her recover.

"Perhaps, but she does not know dreams. I keep dreaming of boy who claims to be my son. But I cannot bear children."

"Perhaps it is the spirit of a confused relative?"

She shook her head again. "No, he is pale skinned, not Tier'Dal. He says he will not be born if I take Jetamio's blood."

He thought for a moment. "Think carefully...do you know his name without being told?"

Now that she thought about it, she did not know his name. "He never said, and I never asked."

This did not seem to shed any light for Stormfollower. "Most perplexing." He glanced out of the window, trying to judge the time, then studied her again. She had stopped shivering and seemed more lucid, but her eyes were still white and a fine film of sweat was still visible on her skin. "Are you well enough to be moved?"

She frowned. "I can barely even sit...how far and when?"

"At first light. We go to the Isle of the Dead to bury Remis. it will take four days by ship. I can arrange for someone to stay here with you if you'd rather remain here."

"Is it a good idea to go with you though? Surely your people have heard that it was I who took his life? And they know what I am...they fear me."

"Everyone is asleep but Jetamio and I. We can sneak you on board before they wake. I want Jetamio to look at you anyway, and later when you are stronger we can dream together, but I must fast."

She considered her options, and decided it would probably be wise to stay with people she knew while she was so incapacitated. She nodded assent.

"Rest now. I will go and find Jetamio, then come back for you. I will carry you to the ship." He turned and left quietly, leaving Tajer to drift back off into restless sleep.

[Gilliadson]

P`Nala runs into Stormfollower as he makes his way back to Jetamio...

"Master Stormfollower! Your son's spirit has been taken... We were all mezmerized and then our memories blurred by a rather inferior Enchanter during the event in the tomb. I was able to find the memory in my own mind and bring it closer to the surface. I believe I can do it for you and the others also. I believe that there could still be a danger to you and your family..."

[Stormfollower]

"Aye, indeed there is still a danger, but not just to my family alone, we are all in peril if what I have seen comes to be. Remis is gone from his body but not from this world. That creature who calls her self Cerissa now holds his soul in her shard of spirits; an easy enough task to achieve.. to snatch a parting soul which in life was already so errant. I believe what you have uncovered in your sharp mind is the ripples of a dream they shared together while Remis clung to the last moments of death. In this way she was able to lure him to her without ever setting foot in that room. I don,t think any of us were actually charmed by her. Such a task would take more power than she could muster,... unless she had help." He scratches his chin a moment as the continue towards he beach then carries on.
"At any rate the truth of our situation remains to be seen. We are going back to the Isle of the Dead... to bury Remis and to set our hook. Prepare your things P`nala we will need you more than ever if we are all to come out of this alive. We leave at first light."

[Gilliadson]

The Shadowbane party were assembled and ready to depart just before the dawn. P`Nala refreshed her Illusion of a Northern woman before exiting the hut she had been using. Sineliniel held on to her husband's arm and sang an ancient song as the sun rose above the horizon, bringing it's light and warmth to the creatures in the area. Myrikel joined her mother in the short song as they awaited Stormfollower and his family.

[Stormfollower]

"We are leaving," Stormfollower responded to Jetamios statement. "The entire tribe." He points up the small embankment towards the main encampment. "You know all those people sleeping together in a circle up there? That`s our tribe..." He smiled a little at her"
You are supposed to be a part of it too. Though past events with them will not allow you to forgive, they all have to the last, every man woman and child saw you in your true light when you turned us all... high council included, into wolves... They love you Jetamio. Perhaps before the night is over you will come and join us."

[Jetamio]

She lets out a long sigh.

"I never said there is anything to forgive." She glances up towards the main encampment towards the sleeping tribe. She loved them too, it was cultural differences mostly that caused the minor upsets. Then she looked back at her husband.

"And what of Tajer? Am I to just leave her here to the elements? She'll wake up to find herself in the middle of nowhere and no idea how she got there..." Jetamio did not know that Stormfollower had already seen Tajer awake.

[Mujbura]

She had escorted her friend, his family and friends to where the tribe resided within natures abundance. She kept her distance at the tribes gathering, it was not her place to interfere. But she had also sworn an oath to her friend and intended to keep faithful until the very end.

She smiled as they met, drank and feasted throughout the evening. How in even the most unsure of circumstances their confidence in the future was strong had her pleasantly confused. “For all things a time, Mujbura.” her fathers strong voice filled her mind bringing a broader smile at his memory. Stormfollower had reminded her of her father. Wise and strong, kind and fierce, these were the makings of her father. And also too it seems, of her dearest friend.

A cold breeze creates goosebumps that cover her skin causing her to shiver. Attempting to ignore the cold she pulls the thick bear skin around her she watches her friend closely. His worried face still seeming peaceful. She raises her eyes to the heavens praying to her Goddess for him to receive Her comfort.

As she lays watching the others another chill finds its way between the skins and she shivers once again before summoning a small companion. Tunare smiles upon Her child providing a tiny bear who climbs between the skins as a gift of warmth.

Before the sun rises she packs her camp, the tiny bear being thanked properly and released back to Tunare’s loving arms. Pulling her heavy packs over her shoulder she follows in silence behind her friend, to support him in however he may need her.

[Jetamio]

While she waited for his answer, she stood up and turned to face him. She barely reached his chest in height, but she had an unconscious aura around her that made her seem taller. She caught movement a short distance behind him and spotted another young elven woman that she didn't recall meeting before. She knew she was not one of the tribe anyway. Jetamio wondered who she was briefly but turned back to Stormfollower, her mind back on more important matters. She did not perceive the other woman to be a threat.

[Stormfollower]

"Tajer is coming of course" Her words stung him [Am I to just leave her here to the elements?] , remembering how he had left his son out at sea to be dealt a trial by nature. "You did not think I was going to forget about her now did you? Maybe I will see fit to throw her overboard in a weighted coffin."
He pointed sharply out towards the bay and towards his little ship." I was going to make room for her aboard my old Goblin Queen. Once its all cozy I will return to fetch her and our friends who will be accompanying us aboard. And you....if you are coming."