Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 4.1 Shrad
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 4.1
Shrad Sibling Revelry
Still largely unharmed by their time in the Wild Lands, the caravan from Shrad will soon learn that not all dangers are ones that can be faced head-on.
Despite how well the caravan had handled the Stab-Bill threat, an almost tangible air of something bordering on depression had sunk in and stayed with the wagon train for several days. Majh hated it. During the mid-day halt she spent her time wandering through the caravan causing trouble and riling people up. It worked well, for the most part, doing little things like knocking over soup bowls or dousing fires with an errant kick of mud.
"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" Nori interrupted her little whirlwind of agitation after a particularly artistic spattering of gruel across a sketch.
"Me?" she asked, turning to regard the ferret, "of course not, dear Wild Lander... I'm just naturally clumsy." Majh explained, offering a full-bodied hyena laugh.
"Are you trying to make enemies?" Nori leaned casually on the handle of his hammer, its head resting on the ground.
"Perhaps." she answered, motioning the ferret closer. "You see..." she noted, resting an arm across his shoulder as she pulled him closer still, practically whispering, "at times when people are agitated and depressed about nothing that can be identified, it helps to provide them with a scapegoat."
"You're volunteering for the job?" the ferret asked incredulously.
"Of course not!" she laughed, letting go of his shoulder, "I'd make a horrible scapegoat... after all, I'm a hyena, not a goat." and her wide-grin took on a slightly more sinister air, "But Bartleby... well.. Bartleby IS a goat."
"But what does him being a goat have to do with you--" and the ferret paused in mid-sentence as Majh's grin widened even further. A tangible pulse of energy flowed through the immediate area, seeping into the laborers and guards and, suddenly, everyone who had been scowling at Majh were suddenly gazing off toward a lone wagon where a spindly-looking, wire-haired goat was busy setting up a spit over his fire pit. As one, they started stalking toward him.
"The Goddess provides an outlet for those who must cope with stress." the hyena offered piously.
"You're going to get an innocent man killed!?!" Nori demanded, "That's crazy!"
"No, my poor, misguided ferret... the plan is completely sound... I'M the crazy one." she smiled, "and Bartleby is not innocent." Nori opened his muzzle to speak, but Majh spoke over him, "You may want to step back... this will get messy." She continued walking away from the scene, forcing Nori to keep up as the sound of numerous hard objects colliding with a good amount of force into a fleshy target.
"He didn't do anything wrong, but they're beating him to death!" Nori objected.
"Don't Wild Landers believe in survival of the fittest?" the hyena inquired.
"You're twisting everything in all different ways. That's not what that saying means." the ferret countered.
"Sayings mean whatever the speaker wants them to mean... that's the magic of language. And, as I said, Bartleby was not innocent... he was a Sun Cultist spy."
"You can't just use words to--" the ferret stopped in his tracks, "He what!?"
"Oh, it's true, Mr Bahn..." Majh came to a halt, turning to regard Nori, "Tollie discovered him two days ago."
"Two days ago?" the ferret questioned, "Why didn't anyone say anything earlier?"
"The High Priest gave me permission to deal with it how I saw fit." Majh answered. It was a bold-faced lie, of course, but it was a reasonable explanation. Besides, she reasoned with herself, she was certain that the bear would find out about it sooner or later anyway. As Nori went back to guard duty, it turned out that the High Priest's information network was just as good as always.
"Majh!" the bear roared, stalking toward her.
"Less than three minutes?" she turned to regard the High Priest, "Your eyes and ears must truly be everywhere." she smiled pleasantly in greeting.
"I've heard that you've used the Blessing of Fury to sentence a goat to death." he crossed his arms, scowling at her.
"A sun cultist spy, your excellency." she offered a deep, respectful bow.
"And you know this how?" he demanded.
"Tollie." she offered the one word explanation, and the bear's demeanor changed immediately.
"A sun cultist spy in the caravan? Tah'aveen damn them all..." he pulled distractedly at the fuzz behind one of his ears, "I'll have to order an inquisition, and that will set us back on tour schedule..."
"Or..." Majh spoke, drawing his attention to her, "you could give me leave to cleanse the caravan... I can have it done in three days." she smiled confidently.
As expected, the High Priest didn't even need a minute to respond, "Done." and he turned to walk away, but paused and glanced back to her, "But... in exchange..."
"In exchange, your caravan will be free of Sun Cultists." Majh crossed her arms over her chest.
"I assume you'll want complete autonomy." the High Priest noted, and the hyena realized what the bear was getting at.
"What do you expect in exchange?" Majh's smile disappeared; the bear had a way of trying her near-infinite patience during moments of his unreasonable posturing.
"Tollie will join me in my chambers tonight." the bear noted.
"You wish to consult his divinations again?" she questioned. The High Priest shook his head, his tongue sliding out to lick his muzzle eagerly. Majh scowled, sighing deeply, "Who will be overseeing me?" she countered.
"Loric Kriabnish." the bear answered, a smile on his muzzle, "His talents should come in quite useful for uncovering the cultists and seeing to it that they're dealt with promptly." Majh realized that she walked right into his ploy, but she was content with giving the high priest that small win; it wasn't worth subjecting Tollie to the bear just to get her way.
"Then I'll take my leave, your eminence." she bowed curtly and went back to her wagon where Guardsman Sten and Shadow were stationed. Tolen was among them, busily crushing a collection of herbs with his mortar and pestle.
"Commander." the otter stood up and bowed. Shadow quickly followed suit.
"Lady Blackpaw." Tolen bowed his head, continuing with his mixing.
"I want everyone ready to travel in five minutes... you'll all be needed." she directed, "Meet me in the center of camp, and be obvious about it." Without another word, she continued onward, heading directly to Loric's wagon. She stopped by two guards blockeing her path right outside the door.
"Hold." noted one of the guards, an imposing husky, "What business do you have with Lord Kriabnish?"
"You're a cute one." Majh responded, "But you'd lose some of your good looks when I tear off your ear and use it to scoop out your eye."
"Go right in, Mistress Blackpaw." the second guard was much more accommodating, pushing the husky out of the way.
Majh inclined her head to the second guard, "I would rather knock first, sir, but thank you." she gave the door a gentle tripple-tap, "After all, we are all civilized here."
"I don't want to be disturbed." Loric called from within his carriage.
"I am here in the name of Armenius Tenge." Majh noted casually. She glanced to the two guards and offered a friendly wink. The carriage door opened a moment later.
"What do you want?" Loric demanded.
"It's not what I want, Lord Kriabnish... the High Priest has requested you to personally assist me with a cleansing."
The fox's ears perked at that, "A cleansing? As in--"
Majh nodded, not the least bit surprised at his upbeat response, "Several Sun Cultists are among us. I trust you'll want to bring some of your men?"
A sadistic grin spread across the fox's muzzle, "For Sun Cultists? No... I'd rather deal with them myself!" he reached for a cane and emerged immediately from the carriage, "Where to first?"
"The center of camp." Majh answered simply, and headed in that direction without pause.
"Why would we want to go to the--" Loric questioned, but he was already being left behind.
Once they had arrived in the center of the gathered wagons, Majh began to gather up her chosen group, "Tolen, my dear..." she called across the way, "see if you can track down Nori... we'll need him if we're going to root out the Sun Cultists..."
The fur all over Loric's body stood on end as he gripped the hyena's arm and practically hissed at her, "You could try a quieter tone, Priestess."
Majh shrugged his paw off of her, "They're the ones who should be afraid, not me, Lord Kriabnish." she responded confidently, "Besides... how are we supposed to chase them if they don't run?"
"What makes you think they'll--" the fox began, but, at that same moment, Tolen and Nori came into view.
"Why are there laborers running off into the forest?" Nori questioned.
"Gaerid!" Majh barked.
"Yes?" inquired the rottweiler, not far from the group. He was seated on the ground, a piece of grass sticking out of his muzzle, leaning his back against one of the wagon wheels. Wyse looked up from the ground beside him, focusing on Majh.
"The High Priest has given me the authority to hunt down and cleanse the Sun Cultists that infiltrated the caravan. My orders come from his muzzle: you will help us track them down and kill them."
Gaerid stood up, pulling the grass stem out from between his teeth, then flicked it into the nearby fire, "Easily done." he noted, and Wyse followed the comment up with an affirmative bark.
"Then lead the way." Majh motioned in the direction from which Nori and Tolen had come. Everyone quickly gathered together and followed after the rapidly moving bounty hunter and his rottweiler. Majh was directly behind Gaerid, Shadow and Sten at her heels; Loric, Tolen, and Nori were in hot pursuit right behind them.
"This is a rather unique way to flush out spies." Loric noted, not at all impressed.
"It worked well enough back in Old Town." Majh smirked.
"The sewer?" Sten inquired, keeping pace.
"I was thinking the abandoned warehouse." Majh corrected, "I didn't like how the sewer fiasco ended." The otter laughed knowingly at what she meant, but they didn't bother revealing the inside joke to anyone else.
"Are you sure I should be along for this, Priestess?" Tolen asked, "I won't be of much use if there's a fight."
"Sun Cultists have a variety of vile powers, Tolen." the hyena explained, "You'll come in useful... I can feel it."
The discussion came to a close the moment Gaerid came to a halt. Majh approached, kneeling beside he rottweiler as he crouched low to the ground, running his paw across several scrapes, "What is it?" she asked him.
"The cultists are as good as dead." he answered.
"How do you know?" she questioned.
He responded quite simply, "We're in Satyr lands."
* * * * * *
The Shradians have made it through a good stretch of Wild Lands without any serious harm thus far... but that might be subject to change after they discover that several Sun Cultists have infiltrated the caravan. Of course... there may be plenty of other things to worry about when they discover they're in Satyr territory. Contributing readers will have to vote on what happens next:
1) The hunting squad will follow after the Sun Cultists and kill them, unless they are already being dealt with. If that's the case, discretion IS the better part of valor, and all that.
2) The hunting squad will follow after the Sun Cultists and kill them, along with any other opposition.
3) If there are Satyrs then why bother using just a half-dozen people? Go back and get the caravan and assault the monsters at their source!
4) The Sun Cultists aren't a problem any longer-- whether they live or die is of no concern... just get back to the caravan and get moving before the Satyrs become a problem.
You have until Thursday August 4th to make your vote. Midnght (PST) as usual
Update: I realize I forgot to note this earlier: Shrad gained the bonus favor from reader votes, and Lorric Kriabnish earned the character bonus. Congrats!