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Dark Days in Sion - Act 3: Scene 3
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<blockquote data-quote="narayan" data-source="post: 7505320" data-attributes="member: 6677509"><p><strong>High in the Great Drakeshvar Valley</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><em><strong>Sogam Kashmir:</strong> <span style="color: #696969">"I remember the day my father, the former Khan, answered the call to make war on the valley. I was only a boy, I did not understand the need for it. Back then Djonfang merchants came up to our villages fairly regularly, trading spices, silks and gold for yakswool, dragonglass, and ice. For us poor lads, the lands of the valley always sounded like a paradise. Farms and orchards full of fresh fruit and produce, calm streams and lakes warmed by the sun. Some of the older lads got to travel down to the valley once a year during the summer, before the mountain passes became too dangerous with threats of avalanche."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>Ayuoso:</strong> <span style="color: #a9a9a9">"I was so lucky once."</span> He interjects with a smile.</em> </p><p></p><p><em><strong>Sogam Kashmir:</strong> Continues. <span style="color: #696969">"During the winters I heard many tales of the powerful dragon shamans, ruling over the people and their dragons alike, keeping the peace with their mysterious sorcery. The Djonfang did not seem much like enemies to me. Nevertheless, my father said all Khans had a duty to obey the RajKhan, unless they had the nerve to challenge and replace him. As he marched away with all the warriors the villages could spare to join ranks with the RajKhans army, I couldn't help but wish that he would challenge the RajKhan so he could call off the war altogether."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"Less than a fortnight later, barely half a dozen of our tribes warriors returned. These men looked utterly defeated, overcome with grief and horror. Some were badly wounded with burns the likes of which I'd never seen. When I pressed them to speak of my father, they only said one thing... DRAGONFIRE!"</span> He states in a haunted voice, pausing to let his gaze stare into the flames of the cookfire. <span style="color: #696969">"...All there was left of him to bury beneath the family shrine were ashes..."</span> He grimaces. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"There is an old saying among my people. 'Evil in a position of power is the cruelest form of power.' There is also another saying among the Maharathans in the south 'When a king is about to lose his power his orders burn more intensely than fire.'"</span> </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"My father died because the RajKhan decided to play war with the masters of the dragons. By all rights it should have been the RajKhan himself who perished, not my father. Grief-stricken though we were, myself and the other fatherless boys had to grow up fast. The loss of so many able-bodied men was a great hardship on the tribe. That first winter after the war was brutal. Some of the widows, including my mother, had to trade away whatever valuables they had left for further food and provisions."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>Ayuoso Kashmir:</strong> <span style="color: #a9a9a9">"I remember that winter well little brother." </span>He adds. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>Sogam Kashmir:</strong> Nods. <span style="color: #696969">"You were one of the only boys left old enough to hunt. Were it not for you, we might not have managed it."</span> He says placing a thankful hand on Ayuoso's shoulder briefly before returning his attention to you, R'ad Alim.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"Nobody ever explained the war to my satisfaction, though few enough of my tribesman yet lived who spent any time with the RajKhan. No one could tell me what sort of man he was. When summer came again, the RajKhan's men came back, as usual, to collect the annual tribute. They assembled us all into the center of the village and demanded to know who was now Khan."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"My mother spoke up, stepping forward clutching one of my fathers spears and spare shields. It was not unheard of for a woman to be a Khan among my people, but the RajKhan's men laughed at her, and I HATED them for that. She let them take what they wanted from the village, what little was left of value, and went away with them to swear loyalty to the RajKhan in the name of the Harachaandee."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"When she returned, she told me what she could about our ruler. That he was a vile, impetuous, greedy and violent man. The sort of Djondarma who gives the rest of us a bad name as bloodthirsty bandits. His rise to defeat the former RajKhan was always rumored to have been a sort of backstabbing, arranged by other like-minded khans who hated having their hands tied by the honorable minded."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"She also told me he kept strange company of foreign advisers, sorcerers, and dishonest merchants. She believed it was these wicked councilors who poisoned his thoughts towards your people, the Djonfang. She also learned that my father had indeed, tried to speak up against the war, and was immediately ordered to be one of the first Khans leading the vanguard."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"Every year she had a chance to visit the RajKhan to present our annual tribute, she did so, bringing back more names, more information about his court. She also visited other Khans, sharing what we could spare to ease their hardships, and form renewed friendships with others who hated the RajKhan. By then I was old enough to stand as a warrior, eventually taking my fathers place as Khan, since my older brother chose to become a druid instead."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>Ayuoso: </strong>Interrupts <span style="color: #a9a9a9">"It is not so much a choice as it is a calling to become a druid brother." </span>He interrupts. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>Sogam Kashmir:</strong> <span style="color: #696969">"Once I was Khan I tried to do as my mother had, as she instructed me to do, to visit the RajKhan and gather information about his court. But the RajKhan did not forget the way my father spoke against the war, and he decided I was likely to be a troublemaker before I even met him. When his men came to collect our tribute, I went back with them, as was custom, but they attempted to murder me before we ever reached the RajKhan's fortress."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"I've been living on the lamb ever since, hiding my face, spending many years abroad in Maharatha or the mountain lowlands, assorting with but avoiding the same bandits and dishonest merchants the RajKhan invites to his court. Secretly I am still known as the former-Khan of the Harachaandee, but I dare not show my face in my home again."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"When I met Guo Jiang and heard his claims about the corruption among the dragon shamans, and heard about you, R'ad Alim, a thought occurred to me, that perhaps we were fated to meet. Two men, wronged by our unjust rulers, left for dead for no good cause... Survivors! We could do well to help each other and seek justice."</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"I have a family now, a wife, two fine warrior children, the very same who keep watch over our camp now in fact. I do not want them to live their lives in perpetual exile as I have. I have secrets to share with you, knowledge of plots and dangerous forces at work trying to seize control over this region and this valley in particular."</span></em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="color: #696969">"I don't bear any ill-will against you or any other Djonfang, but from what Guo Jiang tells me your leaders don't sound much better than mine. I'd rather help you prevent the same sort of corruption that cost my people so dearly. Does that sound agreeable to you?"</span> He asks pouring himself a bowl of Chang.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>[R'ad Alim:</strong> What do you do?<strong>]</strong></em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="narayan, post: 7505320, member: 6677509"] [b]High in the Great Drakeshvar Valley[/b] [I][B]Sogam Kashmir:[/B] [COLOR=#696969]"I remember the day my father, the former Khan, answered the call to make war on the valley. I was only a boy, I did not understand the need for it. Back then Djonfang merchants came up to our villages fairly regularly, trading spices, silks and gold for yakswool, dragonglass, and ice. For us poor lads, the lands of the valley always sounded like a paradise. Farms and orchards full of fresh fruit and produce, calm streams and lakes warmed by the sun. Some of the older lads got to travel down to the valley once a year during the summer, before the mountain passes became too dangerous with threats of avalanche."[/COLOR] [B]Ayuoso:[/B] [COLOR=#a9a9a9]"I was so lucky once."[/COLOR] He interjects with a smile.[/I] [I][B]Sogam Kashmir:[/B] Continues. [COLOR=#696969]"During the winters I heard many tales of the powerful dragon shamans, ruling over the people and their dragons alike, keeping the peace with their mysterious sorcery. The Djonfang did not seem much like enemies to me. Nevertheless, my father said all Khans had a duty to obey the RajKhan, unless they had the nerve to challenge and replace him. As he marched away with all the warriors the villages could spare to join ranks with the RajKhans army, I couldn't help but wish that he would challenge the RajKhan so he could call off the war altogether."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"Less than a fortnight later, barely half a dozen of our tribes warriors returned. These men looked utterly defeated, overcome with grief and horror. Some were badly wounded with burns the likes of which I'd never seen. When I pressed them to speak of my father, they only said one thing... DRAGONFIRE!"[/COLOR] He states in a haunted voice, pausing to let his gaze stare into the flames of the cookfire. [COLOR=#696969]"...All there was left of him to bury beneath the family shrine were ashes..."[/COLOR] He grimaces. [COLOR=#696969]"There is an old saying among my people. 'Evil in a position of power is the cruelest form of power.' There is also another saying among the Maharathans in the south 'When a king is about to lose his power his orders burn more intensely than fire.'"[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"My father died because the RajKhan decided to play war with the masters of the dragons. By all rights it should have been the RajKhan himself who perished, not my father. Grief-stricken though we were, myself and the other fatherless boys had to grow up fast. The loss of so many able-bodied men was a great hardship on the tribe. That first winter after the war was brutal. Some of the widows, including my mother, had to trade away whatever valuables they had left for further food and provisions."[/COLOR] [B]Ayuoso Kashmir:[/B] [COLOR=#a9a9a9]"I remember that winter well little brother." [/COLOR]He adds. [B]Sogam Kashmir:[/B] Nods. [COLOR=#696969]"You were one of the only boys left old enough to hunt. Were it not for you, we might not have managed it."[/COLOR] He says placing a thankful hand on Ayuoso's shoulder briefly before returning his attention to you, R'ad Alim. [COLOR=#696969]"Nobody ever explained the war to my satisfaction, though few enough of my tribesman yet lived who spent any time with the RajKhan. No one could tell me what sort of man he was. When summer came again, the RajKhan's men came back, as usual, to collect the annual tribute. They assembled us all into the center of the village and demanded to know who was now Khan."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"My mother spoke up, stepping forward clutching one of my fathers spears and spare shields. It was not unheard of for a woman to be a Khan among my people, but the RajKhan's men laughed at her, and I HATED them for that. She let them take what they wanted from the village, what little was left of value, and went away with them to swear loyalty to the RajKhan in the name of the Harachaandee."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"When she returned, she told me what she could about our ruler. That he was a vile, impetuous, greedy and violent man. The sort of Djondarma who gives the rest of us a bad name as bloodthirsty bandits. His rise to defeat the former RajKhan was always rumored to have been a sort of backstabbing, arranged by other like-minded khans who hated having their hands tied by the honorable minded."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"She also told me he kept strange company of foreign advisers, sorcerers, and dishonest merchants. She believed it was these wicked councilors who poisoned his thoughts towards your people, the Djonfang. She also learned that my father had indeed, tried to speak up against the war, and was immediately ordered to be one of the first Khans leading the vanguard."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"Every year she had a chance to visit the RajKhan to present our annual tribute, she did so, bringing back more names, more information about his court. She also visited other Khans, sharing what we could spare to ease their hardships, and form renewed friendships with others who hated the RajKhan. By then I was old enough to stand as a warrior, eventually taking my fathers place as Khan, since my older brother chose to become a druid instead."[/COLOR] [B]Ayuoso: [/B]Interrupts [COLOR=#a9a9a9]"It is not so much a choice as it is a calling to become a druid brother." [/COLOR]He interrupts. [B]Sogam Kashmir:[/B] [COLOR=#696969]"Once I was Khan I tried to do as my mother had, as she instructed me to do, to visit the RajKhan and gather information about his court. But the RajKhan did not forget the way my father spoke against the war, and he decided I was likely to be a troublemaker before I even met him. When his men came to collect our tribute, I went back with them, as was custom, but they attempted to murder me before we ever reached the RajKhan's fortress."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"I've been living on the lamb ever since, hiding my face, spending many years abroad in Maharatha or the mountain lowlands, assorting with but avoiding the same bandits and dishonest merchants the RajKhan invites to his court. Secretly I am still known as the former-Khan of the Harachaandee, but I dare not show my face in my home again."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"When I met Guo Jiang and heard his claims about the corruption among the dragon shamans, and heard about you, R'ad Alim, a thought occurred to me, that perhaps we were fated to meet. Two men, wronged by our unjust rulers, left for dead for no good cause... Survivors! We could do well to help each other and seek justice."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"I have a family now, a wife, two fine warrior children, the very same who keep watch over our camp now in fact. I do not want them to live their lives in perpetual exile as I have. I have secrets to share with you, knowledge of plots and dangerous forces at work trying to seize control over this region and this valley in particular."[/COLOR] [COLOR=#696969]"I don't bear any ill-will against you or any other Djonfang, but from what Guo Jiang tells me your leaders don't sound much better than mine. I'd rather help you prevent the same sort of corruption that cost my people so dearly. Does that sound agreeable to you?"[/COLOR] He asks pouring himself a bowl of Chang. [B][R'ad Alim:[/B] What do you do?[B]][/B][/I] [/QUOTE]
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