Chapter 8, Mushrooms and Harpies 

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"Oh Great Father, I wonder what you are to do with us. Are we to be by your side? Are we meant to be here? Are we meant to exist here as you have put us, or are we meant for something greater. Please, just once look down upon us and see that I am trying. I ask you, please. Grant me yet another day..."

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Year of Wrath 1231, Season of Harvest, D.34

     "Knoll, Cori, get up. Mother has given us a task." I told them both, they were playing cards just south of the caves. A few bottles being used as bets, Knoll having apparently been winning for quite some time. 

     "Yes Chief" They answered in unison, a smile crawled across my face. They still obeyed me without any hesitation, despite them being some of the first ones to ask to join Ilgor's crew. Soon that won't be an issue, having Illy as the Priestess would pose different challenges, but she wouldn’t challenge me. 

     Knoll grabbed his heavy chopping axe and a small leather shield he had stolen from a passing cart. To be frankly honest we don't really know if it was meant to be a shield or not, as he had stolen it off the cap of a wheel axle. All we ended up doing was fitting a handle to it. His eyes were still bloodshot from our round of drinking last night, he had lost two more bottles in a bet with me. 

     Cori grabbed her new spear, bright silvered with two ornate wings along the blade, that Smith had crafted for her recently. Ilgor had sheared the tip off her old one with a flourishing blow with that damned saber I gave her. With Cori and Knoll’s much more attentive tutoring with her, she had become a real threat in a fight. Whereas in the past Cori would spend more time gossiping and talking with her like an actual sister. Once Knoll demanded to train her more himself, she stepped up her efforts as well. Illy had recently earned herself a new nickname for how fast she fought, Zephyr. Ghet had given her his old nickname, after watching countless bouts with them, all those knife work lessons presenting beautifully with that saber in her hands. 

     Both were ready and set to go in under a minute, Knoll asked, "Mission, Sir?".In his usual monotone way.

     "We are hunting a specific mushroom for Mother. Plus we need to see if those birds are getting any closer to the village." I told them. Each grunted and we set off towards the forest with the rocky stream running through it. 

     We edged the road for a while, hoping to see if we could pick off a traveler at all. A caravan was running by, but we'd have to have a full force with us to take down that Dwarven troupe they had with them. Heavily armored in carved white brass plate, bandoliers full of shells that would break the wrist of ordinary men. Those strange helmets of theirs that covered their whole face, with blue hard glass covering their eyes, those entertaining beard guards covering their necks to their chests. Both my raiders only gave me a look that dared me to try and pick a fight with them. “You two are starting to become like her, Lord Bhal help me.”

     The whole caravan was moving along with those steam engines we had been seeing more and more these days, moving much faster than the old horse drawn or rune covered wagons that we were used to hunting. Besides, this was clearly a wealthy merchant’s enterprise, all of them had rifles and blunderbuss. Those strange hand cannons the Dwarves were fond of brought bad memories back. Shaking my head, I motioned for the group to get moving again. 

     We followed a few of the game trails that had sprung up over this last winter. The deer needed to forge a new path for something, I suppose we would end up finding out what that new thing was. We needed the old path because Mother had said there was a space nearby that used to have the mushrooms growing there at one time. An old cave, filled with more than just those mushrooms, if we were lucky, we’d find more than only that.

     We rounded a bend and immediately hid behind cover at the sound of flapping wings. In the path was a broken section of the canopy, dozens of branches had broken with force. Several of them were sticking straight up from the ground, like a parody of human battlefields where spears and stakes were left to rot in the sun. The sound of something wet being torn caught out attention as we tried to not let our ears flare out in response. 

     In the new clearing was a Griffon, old by the looks of it. Greying feathers, blood stained beak and talons. It was currently tearing at the carcass of something. Cori poked her head out and whispered "Looks like it dive bombed the clearing to get at a Serpent Beast. Sir, possibly trying to build a nesting site, the breach in the canopy looks old". I noticed that too, the smell of freshly broken wood was long gone. All the branches had lost their leaves long ago, no longer even visible in the wide open space. 

     The creature had dark brown plumage, with a white underside. It flapped its wings as it fed, kicking dust up as it did so. Its yellowed beak tinged red, as it continued gnawing at the carcass. Its long tail ended in a tuft of brown fur, whipped at the flies starting to gather around it. Just hoped it didn’t fling anything else around while it smacked at those annoyances.

     "Why would it want to hunt those? They put up too much of a fight." Knoll said slightly too loudly, as the Griffon squawked and turned its head in our direction. After a tense moment, it went back to its kill. Tearing a leg off it as it dug its foot long claws into the shoulder of the reptile.

     "Let's go around it, the spot we are looking for is just down the way. As long as we don't make any noise it shouldn't be an issue." My voice barely even a whisper. They nodded, and we went in three separate routes, so that if any of us misstepped, it would only find one of us. Better that than all of us. 

     I made my way down its flank. Timing my movement from tree to tree, as it dropped its head to feed. Matching my footsteps when it broke a bone. The birds had gone silent, the insects were still, it had grown unnaturally quiet around the Griffon feeding. Slowly I was finally behind it, the beast was far too intent on feeding to look too hard at its surroundings. I watched Cori make her way over to my left, barely fifty paces away from me, barely able to notice her through the dense foliage.

     I couldn't see knoll yet. I scanned the trees to watch for movement and flagged Cori to do the same. The Griffon stomped on the beast's leg and bone crunched so that it could get to the marrow. I saw movement to its right, in the same path Cori had taken. It didn't look like Knoll, the movement looked too quick, too staccato. It wasn’t another member of the Family.

     I signaled to go further into the forest, away from the dangerous animal. We both moved quietly back, avoiding the fallen branches and dry twigs. I felt we were finally out of earshot of the overgrown bird. "Where is he?" My concern only grew as we continued moving away. 

     "Sir, I think he was fighting a Kobold, it seemed that both were only attacking when the Griffon broke a bone." She said flatly, but tinged with worry. I hadn’t noticed that, maybe I was getting old. 

     "Bhal dammit all '' I sighed. "I knew those things were going to be an issue. Why do I listen to that girl?" I let a tired breath out, scratching the back of my head.

     "Because she's the best we have," Cori answered without hesitation. I turned to look at her, she met my angry face with one of her own. Before we could start arguing though, Knoll showed up, face splattered with blood. 

     "Dealt with." He growled the statement out. It wasn’t anything open for discussion, and he continued walking toward the stream. His axe swayed as he walked, a few drops of blood dripping off the beard. He made no noise as he walked, neither Cori nor I even noticed him until he spoke. I was just happy I was being challenged by Illy, not him. 

     Cori and I looked back at each other, shrugged and continued walking. Knoll was a phenomenal fighter, he was usually one of the last ones I needed to worry about in a scrap. He had cut his teeth on Red Mountain to the south when we were younger. That was a story he would never tell, the nightmares of that cannibal tribe still haunted him. Only I and several others survived that skirmish, but only after Knoll had slaughtered as many of those depraved humans as he could catch. That mountain, now forever stained with crimson from the rivers that Knoll had made there. Even the humans gave Knoll a name that day, The Red Raider. 

     We found the stream with the toppled gnarled oak. Mother said there was a small cave under the tree's roots that flooded during any rainstorm. Said this would be a possible space for the mushroom to grow. Along with several other things that the Family might be interested in. 

     "Do you remember what this rot looks like?" Knoll asked, emphasizing his question to me. He washed his axe by washing it with a puddle of water by the fallen tree. His tone felt off, not quite an insult, stopping just short of one. 

     "Sea green, like our skin, with a white stipe, flanged underside, drips white fluid." I told him, closing my eyes, seeing it in my mind. Still annoyed at the tone he used. 

     We looked under all the topped trees in the area, and we found a lot of mushrooms. Only, not the ones we wanted. There were Weeping Angels, Puffballs, a few Death Caps, and an agaricus bunch. But, I was overruled by them as they began picking many of them and storing them away into pouches. Food and medicine for the clan, Mother Kari would be overjoyed that we brought much back. There was enough in here that they opened the folded cloth bags we used during foraging and hunting trips. I hadn’t even thought to bring mine. 

      "Why are you wasting time grabbing those?" I asked Knoll. Nothing that was green, or at least in its fruiting stage. Knoll grabbed a few polypore mushrooms off a dead birch tree that had somehow found its way into the cave. Big plates of fungus, about twelve inches across.

     "Surprise, surprise, Chief. Drinking isn't the only thing I like to do. I like to draw on them." He said flatly as he tucked his find into his pouch. 

     "I didn't know that, why didn't you tell me before?" I asked, not really remembering if I ever really asked him anything about himself.

     "You never asked." He shrugged, and walked off to the next location. 

     “You’ve not seen anything he’s made Chief? He doesn’t exactly hide any of the portraits he does, he has quite a bit.” That surprised me, I hadn’t. I began to wonder what else I didn’t know about my old friend.

     We set off to the western hillocks before the Ancient forest began. There was a small cave that flooded with the spring thaws, it stayed humid all year round as its hooded rock face pointed away from the windward side of the sea. We got there without incident this time. Though we did have to make way for the biggest basilisk any of us had seen in years. 

     The lumbering giant was a patchwork of emerald green scales and electric blue. Its underside dragged on the ground as it moved on its six colossal legs. Its claws cut deep ruts in the rock as it made its way. Flicked its tongue out, tracking something, with any luck it would be trying to find that Griffon, and they’d fight for the territory. Get rid of at least one problem, it wouldn’t threaten the Village, they hated fire and smoke.

     We began hunting for this fabled mushroom inside the cave. Searched the crannies along the rock wall where a small pool of water was being held in, a small amount of flow disappearing somewhere near the entrance. There were a few green mushrooms in here, but they had black stipes not white.Besides, they had yellow spots on the tops of the caps. Cori cracked her back from the other end of the cave, and turned to me. 

     "Chief, before I forget. Ghet wanted to know if that field of razor shells was still at the old tide pools?" She asked, her voice echoing in the cave. 

     "It's been a while since I've last thought of the tide pools, I'm not sure. I haven't personally been out there in a long time." I told her as I narrowly avoided putting my knee down on a piece of flint that had somehow found its way in here. It would be pretty bad if I needed to be stitched back up because of a rock. Knoll walked behind me and picked it up, putting it away in another pouch on his chest. Annoyed that I didn’t think of that. 

     "Says we ought to take a look. Might be worth fishing there again." Cori added.

     "It's worth looking into after we are done with this." I told her, it would be nice to have those pools back, just had to keep the crabs there this time. It would be a chance to show the children what real work and fishing would be like when I brought them back out there. But, it irked me again, that I hadn’t thought about it in so long.

     Knoll cussed on the other side of the cave as he waved his hand around. Something had attached itself to his finger. He managed to fling it off and the crayfish made a satisfying crack against the cave wall. Cori laughed, I just looked at him and cracked a smile. "Oh piss off, it's dark in here." He spat at both of us.

     There was only one spot we had left to search in the cave, there had been an old moss cavern in the back, after a wall collapsed a few years back. It was filled with strange flora, things that glowed, and hummed with a rhythmic chime. Cori went in first and gave us the all clear, nothing had made its lair in here yet. Though, I thought to myself, it was only a matter of time before something we couldn't deal with thought it to be a perfect home. Just like those Basliks we never managed to drive into extinction. Just like those damned birds, just like this rising threat with Ilgor.

     The cavern was filled with glowing moss that filled the small space with a pale blue light. The spores of the fungi hung heavy in the air, the light from the moss casting rays out through the thick dust. The dense tangled carpets hung from the ceiling and a few strange insects crawled through them. The moss, though was a pleasant treat, it dried well and tasted like citrus. 

     "Those things disturb me, far too long and too many legs" Cori said, slapping one off her shoulder. 

     "Well, the sooner we are done here, the sooner we can leave." Knoll said, still nursing his pinched finger. 

     We scrounged around the crevices, the small trickle of water passing through into the opening causing a faint dribbling noise throughout the small cave, the echo making its sound like a much bigger stream of water than it was. We found a few more plants we had never seen before. A few pale ferns that seemed to hum, a low tenor, that I felt weakly in my chest. A polypore that dripped some fluid off the wall, I put the haft end of my axe under a drop. It hissed wildly, and bubbled with foamy white suds. 

     "I wonder what it is?" I whispered to myself. Cori walked up and watched the bubbles on my haft and cocked her head to one side. She wiped her spear point clean with her vest, then had a drop of fluid land on the metal. It only sat on her spear, not reacting at all.

     I raised an eyebrow at her, a quizzical look on my face. "I think it's only going to react with things that are alive, or have been alive. Like the wood on your handle, or the grease from your hands. Look how it's not doing anything until it rolls into the moss over there?" She pointed, and sure enough, the small stream of fluid was only bubbling when it touched the moss.

     "Wonder what it is?" Knoll asked as well, walking over to look at the little experiment going on. He produced a small vial and a glass stopper, and held it under the dripping fungi until the vial was full. He stoppered it and put it back in the small pouch he had under his thick poncho. 

     "What are you doing?" I asked him, rubbing my temples, these two were just surprising me today. 

     "I thought Mother would like to experiment with it. Besides, who knows, it might be a useful thing after all." He shrugged and walked out of the cavern and back into the cave. When had he gotten so thoughtful? When had these two grown up? I still remembered when Knoll was my second in command when I was a raid leader. He never did these kinds of things back then, maybe I should pay more attention to my old friend. When had Cori grown so clever? When did these two change? When had I stopped noticing all the things they did?

     We walked back out into the shifting morning sunlight filtering through the tree canopy. The last spot we knew of the mushrooms was in the Ancient part of the forest. Trees as wide as a cart, big enough that you carve out the middle and live inside fairly comfortably. There the roots grow in knobby twists and jutted out of the ground at random intervals. Made for easy threat detection though, there was next to no underbrush. The canopy was too dense, too high up to allow seeds to be brought in by the wind. 

     We made our way toward the old growth, following the path made by an old game trail. Crossed the winding rocky stream that fell in countless waterfalls. The old forest was growing on top of an old slate plateau where the ashy stone had long ago eroded away, the trees over the eons having sheared away sections so that the water had to fall into small pools before continuing. Cori was watching the skies, knoll watched our flanks, we knew there were Giant Elk around. I kept the pace, marching forward. 

     We finally got to the point where the breeze off the bay hit the mountains to the west of the forest. The air stilled even more as we climbed up the last escarpment, the air growing thick and humid. The mossy curtains hanging in heavy shoals off the branches, ivy climbing up the trunks in spidery patterns.

     We had legends of the forest being alive, the trees watching you, like something was always behind you. We called it the V'hiled, the spirit of the forest, we could feel the old magic in the air. Strange things could be seen here, points of light that faded in and out that just begged you to follow. Odd bits of fog that sprang up out of the blue, usually in the shape of people we knew. Goblin-like voices could be heard if one really wanted to spend the night out here. 

     If you were unlucky enough, you might see her from time to time. We used to tell the children that she was a long dead goblin that followed you around until you got back home. Long tail to hinder you as you tried to make it back, while her voice told you that she loved you over and over. The one time I remembered seeing her, I had to admit, it wasn’t far off. Only she just stood there, unmoving, watching. But, she did look an awful lot like our Family, desiccated, hollow, many centuries from the last time she had seen her own grave. 

     As long as you never followed the lights, or got out of your camp and tried to look for the noises, you were fine. We just held a special reverence for this place, we never made a fire here, never cut down any of the trees, never harmed the trees in any way. We would often climb to the tops so that we could watch the stars and thunderstorms, that is before the birds moved in. "Old V'hiled is angry today, '' Knoll said.

     "Why do you say that?" Cori asked, looking about, her long braid whipping around clutching at her clan symbol. "I don't see any fog, the birds are still singing too." 

     "Because something is following us." Knoll said. I heard her whisper a short prayer. 

     I whipped around and searched the branches of the grand canopy. I halted the other two to watch and waited. Hunkering down and slid into the shadows of a great old oak. All three of us easily hid in a massive crack in the trunk. Scanning every tree I could see for movement, moving to a new patch of cover. Then Cori tapped me on my shoulder and pointed up.

     I couldn't see what she pointed at, but I heard something faint. Wing beats? I thought to myself. “But, they sound so far off?” Had that Griffon followed us after all, no this dense canopy hid us too well from the sky. Though I already knew what was flying around down here in the leafy halls of the forest I finally saw it, a small humanoid figure, its owlish wings folding to her sides, silhouetted against the tree. 

     It was that old harpy hag that we had tried our damnedest to get rid of and her brood a few seasons back, damn birds. While she had a human face, the wide eaglelike eyes, and the gore stains on her talons told us her true nature. We strayed further into the shadow of the tree, I unholstered one of the few revolvers the clan had, from my side. While Cori and Knoll whipped out slings. They each had a knobby piece of flint, that cut deep into skin when it landed its mark.

     She turned her head back and forth, searching. She was meticulous about it, slowing her gaze turned over each branch, each side of the trees, and watched the shadows of the great trunks around us. Her gaze finally found us and locked eyes with mine. She took flight and she disappeared.

     "We need to move.'' A cold sweat had started to make its way across my face. We started sprinting deeper into the forest. Each kept our small shields behind our necks as we ran, we didn't need that old broad swooping down and ripping our necks open. We learned that tactic long ago with the damned birds. 

     The only warning we had was the soft rush of air as we hit the ground. I felt the scrape of a long talon across the leather of the shield as it forced me to the ground. A flurry of scattered feathers fell as we got back up in time to see the harpy had landed, turning in a cloud of loose feathers to face us. Her long legs put her a foot or two taller than us.

     She had gray feathers along her entire body, on her arms, legs and torso. Though those were more of a soft down, rather than feathers for flight. She was just bringing her massive wings back behind her as she started walking towards us, a taloned hand raised in a sign of peace we had taught her and her brood. Well, before our disagreements started anyway, I thought to myself.

     "Why are you here? You said that if we left the village alone, and didn't go near it, you would stay out of our territory. No?" Her voice pitched up and down, though the sound was still more like a screech trying to form words. “You are not my son’s friend. You are not the little girl, only one of you I can tolerate. You do not have my blessing feathers to walk freely here, boy.” 

     "We aren't here for you" I told her, my axe raised in a stance that would let me move quickly raised over my shoulder, haft covering my torso. That comment she made, her son’s friend? Feathers… the only ones to wear feathers in the clan were Kari and Ilgor.

     "Then why?" She clucked. 

     "We don't need to tell you anything about what we are doing. We told you last time that this forest should be common use for both of us, we need something here, so now we are here." I clenched my jaw, anticipating the argument to come. I felt two shields come up to either side of me, and Cori's spear made its way out to the side, protecting my flank. Knoll held his axe low behind his shield, so that he could block an upward strike.

     "But, this is my territory. My brood has been good, no? You did far too much killing last time, I'll remind you. Lost five of my children, I did." She spoke in that avian tone of hers, still pitching each sentence as if it were a question. 

     "I'll remind you, that they swooped down on us first." That only pitched her eyes in a way like she looked at me like prey. 

     "Yes yes yes, I know. I apologized, didn't I? They didn't do it again, even after your clan continued to encroach on my territory." She seemed like she was trying to chide me, as if I was the one in the wrong?

     "I suppose" I said slowly, "We will leave after we have found what we need."

     "What are you looking for, no? Perhaps I can get you to leave sooner, no?" She offered.

     I looked over to Knoll and Cori, both nodded they agreed that that would probably be a better plan. "A mushroom that grows in humid caves, or crevices. A green cap, with a white stipe, drips a white fluid in the gills."

     A light dawned in the harpy's yellow eyes. "Damp cave, no? I knew of one that has a pool of foul water in it. Green mushrooms there, yes? Might be what you seek." She said excitedly, she clearly had the idea that this was going to be exactly what we needed.

     "Where is it?" She just turned and took flight, leaving us on the ground to watch the direction she flew off to. “I guess that settles that, she really did want us out fast.”

     "Follow!" She squawked at us, a few hundred feet in front of us already.

     We had to sprint to keep up with her. She really didn't slow down, we lost sight of her a few times, until we saw her perched in a tree. Breathless we just looked at each other with annoyed expressions. She really was not going to let us rest a moment, she wanted us out of her territory, no exceptions. Either she didn’t know that running was harder than flying, or she didn’t care. Probably the latter of the two options. 

     She always took off again as we approached. We were nearing the mountain's foothills where the trees started to thin out. The great trees turned to aspen forest, as the floor of the wood grew steeper. She rose higher in the air before the tree line fell. The aspens were still cloaked in heavy curtains of moss, a low fog obscuring hazards in our way as we struggled to keep up with the old hag.

     The slate bedrock, giving way to vertical walls of the same material. The dark black stone radiated heat as we neared it. Huffing, we stopped right at the base, looking around. Sweat dripped from our faces, as we gratefully stopped to catch our breaths. "Where is she?" I huffed out, I really wasn't in shape to be running this much, chest burned like someone had dumped a bucket of coals in my lungs. Needed to stop drinking so much with Knoll, this was going to kill me.

     We heard a screech above us, and we looked up to see her staring back down at us, perched on top of the cliff ledge. Knoll's mouth dropped open and Cori just looked annoyed. "How are we supposed to get up there? It's a sheer wall!" I yelled up at her, my knuckles going white as I clenched my hands.

     "Carry one of you, I can?" She cocked her head, and bobbed up and down. I guess some things were distinctly avian about her, even her mannerisms. 

     "Can you even carry one of us?" I shouted back up at her, my deep voice echoing off the cliff face.

     "Oh yes, taken bigger prey than you." That did nothing to soothe our nerves whatsoever. Come to think of it, her wings were huge, at least twenty feet across, each. Now that I got to get a better look at her, the muscles along the base of her wings were considerable. She probably did take larger things than us, even if they were easy enough to swat out of the sky when Kari would help us with her magic.

     "Fine, take me up there." I gritted my teeth, not particularly looking forward to the view I was about to get. Part of me was also starting to realize that I was probably about to do something no else had ever had the opportunity to do, a ride with a harpy. “What an honor, to be the first.” I said to myself with a pained prideful grin.

     "Stand in the clearing over there" She pointed to an opening in the trees, a small grassy field through the conifers, barely. She looked back down at me, and cocked her head. "Talons sharp, hmm"

     "I could hold my axe in the air for you to grab like this." I grabbed just under the head, and the end of the haft and held it above my head. She nodded. 

     Walking over to the field, choosing a spot in the middle and holding my axe up, I heard the wing beats. Suddenly, before I knew it, I was jerked into the air. Barely able to keep my grip on the axe, as we climbed higher into the air. 

     The view was gorgeous, well would have been in any other circumstance than being hauled to a precarious height by a harpy that could drop me at any time. Regardless, the sight of the Ancient forest, with the clouds rolling through the canopy. It was like a vast sea, its waves frozen in time as each hill became a new crest to crash back down. The backdrop of the bay, emerald in the noonday sun, was stunning indeed. The light glittering back at me even from this distance. I could almost forget what we were here for, she had swung wide to angle herself back to the cave. The force of my weight swinging outward surprised me at this speed, the wind making my eyes water. 

     "You know you could just drop me, so why not? Get rid of the leader of the clan?" I was morbidly curious, I chuckled, as I roared over the sound of the wind in my ears flapping wildly about. "Would be pretty easy right about now."

     There was a short pause, "I want you out of my territory, not a war." She said to me, in a flat, matter of fact tone. I was surprised, I suppose these harpies really weren't bird brains, she had a point. Killing me would only provoke a response from the clan, and we'd exterminate her and her brood from the forest. Though, clearly she thought about it for a moment, she did have an excellent answer. 

     She dropped me down on the cave entrance, landing hard on my feet. She flapped her wings to perch on the cliff edge the gusts of wind from her wing beats threatening to knock me back off the mountain. Walking over, talons clicking on the stone. "The pool is further inside."

     The cave was surprisingly large, though the whole place stunk of algae and rot. It was dimly lit, but the reflection off the water did do some to help. The shifting light, giving just enough to see the bright green mushrooms. I walked over and inspected a few of them. "Bright green caps, stipes are good, fluids the right color" I muttered to myself.

     Gathering a few of them, I didn't know how many of them Mother would need. Seven in total, cutting them gently so their spores wouldn't puff out. Mother said that they should be handled very gently until they were inside a container, even the spores would induce a mild effect. Opening the pouch at my side, I dumped them in, and closed it back up tight. Synching the drawstring as much as it would.

     "Ready?" The harpy hag asked me, impatience clear. I nodded, but this time she just grabbed me in a bear hug and began flapping her wings. I felt us take off, I couldn't see with my face in the chest feathers of this flapping menace. 

     "You really could have warned me" My muffled voice vibrated against her torso. 

     "Stop that, that feels weird. This was faster than doing it your way, no?" I didn't say anything. Her feathers smelled like old dust and pine needles. I was honestly expecting the smell of carrion, or at least blood. Considering her talons were stained red, I thought it was a safe assumption.

     She dumped me a few feet from the ground, grunting as I landed on my back, it would have words for me later. The harpy continued to fly off, and screeched back at us. Voice sounded far too much like a hawk "Now leave." We didn't need any encouragement. A few hours later, we were back in the village. Mother had said she needed to dry the mushrooms, then they would begin. 

*** 

Year of Wrath 1231, Season of Harvest, D.36

     It was announced that Ilgor was going to be taken under the wing of the Priestess, and that the ceremony would begin. The clan, many of which having never seen the ceremony were alight with curiosity. Though, a select few seemed more sad about what was about to happen. The Chief had never seen this either, only what he had been told by the Priestess. Old Priestess Misry was before his time, before many of their times. 

     The night encroached on the village, and a cold wind had started to blow in as Ilgor was prepared. She was instructed to cover herself in a plain white sheet and to eat the mushroom given to her. She seemed excited, she was looking forward to being able to be the guide for the village one day, despite having been stripped of the right to be a Raid Leader in lieu of this honor.

     The waves crashed violently on the shore. The noise drowned out the muttered conversations as Mother led Ilgor to the largest cave, it had been lined with candles so that the entire cavern was filled with a soft warm light. A raised platform of wood was erected so that the bedroll placed on it was a few inches off the cool sand. 

     It was ringed with even more candles, taller, with symbols etched into the wax. Old signs familiar to all in the clan; words of family, strength, and glory written over and over. The Priestess asked everyone to stay out of the cave until they were called, then asked Ilgor to lay down on the bedroll and relax.

     After she had been situated, the Priestess undid Ilgor's braid and fanned it out under her. She then rubbed flowery scented oils into her hair, and drew the Skullbrood symbol of crossed swords on her forehead in charcoal. The cold wind flowing through the great hanging curtains the clan put back up before each Season of Waiting, threatening to blow out the candles. 

     The priestess grabbed Ilgor's hands and they began to pray before the mushrooms took effect. "From Mother to Daughter, the wisdom passed on from history to history, may Bhal bless us a safe journey back home. May he show us the glory of his power." 

     Kari ran her hand along Ilgor's cheek, and smiled. She rose, and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bedroll, and placed her staff off to her side. She began praying softly as Ilgor drifted off.