Having put up her tent and checked on the sable and zebra, Noragia returns to the camp fire and looks from one to another of the vision questers who seem to be in the midst of a Praxian standoff. She rolls her eyes and retires to her bed.

<OOC with the Scorpion man Lemak spoke of in mind, she may sleep fitfully. and if she does wake in the night she will get-up and stand outside to listen for a few minutes before trying to go back to sleep>

Tuari finished his meal and rose to see to Ondari before bringing the big bison back closer to the fire he settled the big beast down the quietly sat putting his back against the beasts side and settling in for the night.

<OOC: feel free to continue introductions etc. and that will just be backdated>


As Yelm emerges from the Gates of Dawn, Lemak, having experienced an excellent sleep, awakens first and well rested.

You see some stirring around the entrance of the teepee. The two attendants bring some refreshment to a small figure that has crawled from its entrance. The fire is still going strong and a series of new skewers are roasting over it, smelling deliciously of local fowl. There are also a variety of skewered vegetables, some of which are not indigenous to Prax.

Seated in front of the tent you see an old man, he looks older than any human you have ever seen. He appears to be a member of the impala tribe, although his head is not shaved, nor does it look like his hair or beard has been cut in many years. The two attendants kneel on either side of him, braiding his hair and beard which he seems to tolerate as he drinks thirstily from a clay jug.

Lemak sees to his high llama, brushing its coat down and pulling out any debris caught by the winds.

While he eyes the skewers and feels his stomach's call, he waits while the shaman takes his drink.  Lemak stands a respectful distance from the man and gives a bow of acknowledgment before sitting in front of him and waiting for Shollak to finish before speaking.

"Wise One, I am Lemak of the Silver Fleece Clan.  I am here at the bidding of the Storm Bull.  The Great Desert Wind commanded me to ride to this tree, but I am told that you have been waiting for me," he motions around, "and these others too."

Norajia scans the horizon for any late arrivals and then checks on the sable and brings it over to to introduce it to the tethered zebra. She re-examines the zebra in the morning light. Unfastening it, she swings up and tests it out bareback at a walk and a trot, to see if it has any ailments or peculiarities. She gives both mounts a cursory brush down and returns to the campfire.


When she sees Lemak go and sit by the shaman she joins him, also bowing before sitting on Lemak's left hand side.

She bows again ,seated, when he mentions 'others' but stays quiet

"Draw closer, draw closer, yes, yes" he says, indicating the ground in front of him.
As you draw near, his head turns toward you.
As the sun catches his face you notice that he has no eyes.

He swats the grooming hands of his attendants away "Karith, Salla, leave me alone and bring some breakfast to our guests."
The two young attendants scurry to once again offer you the wooden kebabs.
<OOC: I assume everybody draws near, let me know if not>
"Please sit. Sit.
So this is interesting, what a strange group you are. All of you so BIG.
I am Shollak, called Sees Far. You are known to Shollak, for he has had vision of your coming. Shollak does not like to keep a guest waiting, but he had a bit of a struggle. Shollak would have given this to you when you arrived, but this one, she is stubborn. Yes, you are. YES YOU ARE.”
 Shollak rummages around the blankets he is sitting on and produces a faded yellow object, about 18 inches/46 cm in length. It appears to be a humanoid humerus that has been sharpened on one end. It has been carved extensively with runes and other symbols (perhaps partial runes or strange, combined runes) that are less familiar to you. In addition precious metals and semi precious stones have been hammered into it in seemingly haphazard fashion, and a few bands of what you suspect is iron reinforcing the bone around some of its deeper cracks.

<OOC: You'll probably need to right click on the link, the pictures aren't always embedding for me>



This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Wed 20 May 2020.

Seeing the depressions where eyes should be in the shaman's head, Lemak can't help but glance at the two helpers.



He takes the kebab gratefully and starts to eat, looking back again at Shollak.



Lemak regards the bone with a mixture of interest but also wariness.  The temptation to reach out and take the bone and examine it is strong, but concern about 'a struggle' and how 'she is stubborn' win out and he limits himself to just gazing upon the item.

Between mouthfuls of kebab, he asks "Wise One, why are we here?"  Particularly the foreigner...  "What is this baton?  And who is 'she'?"

[OOC: Gargle, FYI the second link image embeds for me, but not the first link]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:39, Wed 20 May 2020.

Norajia leans forward as she takes in Master Shollak's physiognomy

Norajia silently gestures that she would prefer the root soup again



Norajia also examines the artefact only from a distance, a worried look crosses he face as she does so. She looks around to see where the other visitors are sitting and whether they have any strong reactions to the shaman and his baton.


<OOC: Like Lemak I see the second img tag in post but not the first (both are the same image)> - I'm using Safari on a mac and iPad at the moment

Tuari sat on the otherside of Lemak, a blind shaman talking to the spirits whilst unusual didnt seem all that strange to him.  Shamans had a tendancy towards being odd.

He sat silently listening then when no one made to take the strange bone on impulse he stretched an arm out hesitated just above ut then picked it up.

Chewing on a rather tasty root, one of the foreign ones he took to try out Mabwe asks "Gern or human?" But then adds "Was She, the spirit, tied to the thing or just some other task that kept you from us Master Shollak?"

And almost as an afterthought "And do you know what we re meant to do with it?"

The bone feels natural in your hand, it is lightweight and feels lifeless to you.

Shollak laughs, “Oh ho ho, interesting! A bison rider, well that makes sense, and she knows her business I suppose. I think she likes you”
She can not help you though if you do not feed her. Can not or will not. We can feed her for now, though. Salla, feed her, you nincompoop!”

Salla, the young female attendant, dutifully produces a flint knife which she draws across her palm. A pale line appears on her hand which rapidly fills with blood. She allows a few drops to fall onto the bone-
-which suddenly springs to life, twisting in Tuari’s grip and forcefully pointing to the north.

“Oh,” says Shollak. "Not the swamp. Not the river. Not the big dirty city. Somewhere else."

“Ah so many questions for a tired old man.
I only know what I know, and perhaps not even that."

"This has been in my keeping since I was a young boy. But it is much, much older. Now it must leave me.”
He sighs. "It belonged, or belongs, or will belong, to a great warrior. Not a gern, ha ha. She rode a llama. She is stubborn but she will guide you to where you need to go.

"She does get hungry though, hee hee, you look like you have a lot of blood though, Tuari."

A strong breeze blows from the west, whipping the embers of the fire.

“I have seen a vision. Our enemies extending their power, a coming Great Abomination. I do not know that it can be stopped.
Chaos would grow, replacing life with emptiness and destruction. Already the Red Soldiers are here, yes? But what they plan will make them unstoppable...
Maybe you can help stop it. Maybe you can not. She thinks you can.
She promises she can lead you where you must go.
With this. With this, see?” he indicates the general directions of the bone with a shaking finger.

Tuari looked at the bone in his hand, he moved his hand to see if it pointed consistently in the one direction.  "Orlanth gave me a vision, it sounds like the spirits have shared their fears with you." he offers his other hand to Salla, "Cut it I will feed her.  I would know who she is." once the deed is done he places his own bloody hand upon the bone.

Norajia's eyebrows jump as the bone spirit bucks in Tuari's hands. She turns her head to look in the direction it indicates.

"Just yesterday I warned someone never to go to Winter Ruins." she says "Is that where she sends us? I suppose we won't know until we get closer. She observes the others' reactions, particularly the Sundomer's.

Should we know her name Master Shollak?" she looks back towards the Shaman.

Lemak looks on with fascination at the bone in Tuari's hand.  A high llama rider?  Part of him wishes he had taken up the fetish himself.  Part of him is uncertain of its bloodthirst.

While he listens to see if Tuari can discover the name of this high llama rider, and if she tells Tuari more, Lemak looks at the shaman and those around him, saying "In the dream that the Great Bull showed me, it was Earth Season, and the Red Moon attacked, and great flaming boulders fell upon the Earth with great destruction."

Narajia's attenton snaps back to Lemak

"I think I have had this dream" she says "It was earth season, I had returned to my family's Ger, but they all looked some years older than they should. There were loud whistling noises, then crashes like a landslide, then our tent was filled with fire - and then I saw this tree by the block and Chalana Arroy was telling me to go."

"In my vision, I was riding my trusty impala off to hunt creatures of chaos when Waha commanded I simply "Go." My name is Thangar, by the way.

"The skies turned red from the North West in my dream. There was a crackling of energy in the air and my blood ran cold, but my shaman acted as though nothing was wrong."

"Then the skies were filled with flaming rocks that fell to the earth and brought ruin, flames taking the grass and filling the plains with darkness."

"Then the eyes of Waha over this tent beneath the tree and The Block in the background and my head was filled with his one word, GO!"

Interesting.  This must be important indeed if a number of gods have sent their own followers with similar visions.  Lemak's heart swells with pride at being chosen.

He turns to look at Vorrik...

No matter how you hold the bone, the sharp tip always points in the same direction. If you try to shift it, it increases in strength. It is as if it is tethered to a long taut rope that originates some ways to the north.
You notice that the tug of the bone is greatly lessening after a few moments.



The girl looks back to Shollak, who makes no sign.
Turning to Tuari, she then hesitantly takes your huge left hand and winces as she draws the knife across it.

As you put your wound against the bone you notice that the blood is rapidly absorbed.
The intensity of the pull on the bone is again great as it leaps in your grip and points to the north. Again it fades after a few moments and returns to lifeless bone.



Vorrik is standing a bit outside of the circle of Praxians, his head tilted back and murmuring a psalm about Yelmalio.



Shollak speaks again, his voice raspy and he appears exhausted, his words harder to make out and slurred as he goes on:
“Follow her and she will lead you. How far I do not know. She will not avoid danger, that is not like her, for now as in life she has no fear.
Whatever she shows you, bring back here, to this tree, and give it to the one you see. Not to me though. Not to…”

He falls to the side and is silent.

Karrith, the male attendant, holds his hands up apologetically and wordlessly mouths the words “he is okay”.

Norajia crosses to kneel beside the old Shaman and takes one of his small hands between hers, leaning close to him for a moment. She nods to Karrith with a smile, and wiping her eyes, returns to the Praxians "As the young man says, he is alright. Give me a minute to strike my tent and I am ready" she says.

It takes more than a minute before she emerges from the tent in more trail-stained clothing than she was wearing the previous day and packs up her gear to load back on the sable.

Mabwe looks at the collapsed shaman and at Norajia "Really? I thought his time has come now that he has passed her on after so long waiting."

Narajia tilts he head with a thin lipped smile. "As you heard, someone else will be here whe...if, we return. You know more of shamans than I. He lives, however"

Lemak turns to look at the Sky worshipper.  Oh no...

He starts as the shaman collapses, but is reassured by Karrith's words.

Following Norijia's lead, he packs up his gear, straps it to his high llama and mounts the beast, ready to depart.  While he waits for Tuari, in particular, who wields the bone, he looks down at the two attendants and says, "Will you tell my brothers and sisters," he nods towards the Block, "of the vision that we have shared?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:19, Fri 22 May 2020.

Tuari sat a little longer looking at the bone in his hand before tucking it safely away.  As he rose to his feet he asked the two attendants "Do you know her name? If you do I would like to know.