Hydaelyn Role-Players

A week passed after K'ailia had made her request before one of the elders. During this week, nothing notably changed changed for the Hipparion tribe. Their worn hunters brought in what meat and bone and sinew they could; their children learned and played and grew and fought; they tended to sick and injured; they looked to the sky and prayed. When their stores of water began to dwindle, they sent out one of their shaman with a small escort in search of new sources, and two days later the entire camp they had settled into had disappeared, moved with brisk efficiency across rolling dunes to a new location.

And so when the word finally spread from the elders of a meeting, the Hipparion tribe was still settling in to their new camp. It will decide our future, said the whispers passed along from huntress to tia to child. It will tear us away from Azeyma's guardianship, said others still, and like this a slow conflict brewed over the course of a single day.

The meeting was to happen in the morning, a week and one day since the tribe's youth had first gathered in secret, and well before the first greying of dawn the Elders were up and preparing. They spoke in hushed tones within their tent, bent bodies shuffling back and forth carrying sigils and bowls of offerings. There was a strange air of urgency in their movements but neither were they hurried.

A bell after the shadows of night first began to fade, the elders left their tent. They walked through camp in single file, towards the center where the remains of a fire lay still warm. K'deiki moved at the head of their procession, one hand clutching a stone carved mark of the sun goddess while the other carried a small handful of dried shrub branches. The latter she cast into the shallow pit of the fire, and the rest of the elders settled into the sand on either side of her.

They remained there in silence as K'deiki breathed life back into the pit, waiting for their tribe to come and partake in choosing their future.

K'ailia was anxious. She knew in her heart, what must be done. She had even been approached by the headmaster of the Ul'dah Garden, that she was enrolled in with an offer for the tribe.

Peaking outside her tent, she saw the elders moving through the camp. It was time. She untied her bandana, laying it to the side and pulls out a little circlet with a bright Tourmaline gem embedded into it's center. She then pulled from her pack a very old necklace that looked to be a string rung through small stones. The central stone itself having the symbol of Azeyma on it and gazed upon it with a smile before stuffing it behind the vest of her new clothes. Then she pulled from her pack yet another item, this one a rolled up scroll, the proposal from Ventus, the headmaster of Ul'dah Garden.

With a deep breath she opened the flap to the tent and stepped out into the open. She could see othe tribe members starting to head towards the meeting. She hurried along and upon arriving, gave a smile to all three elders before taking a seat near the fire. She was still small compared to the rest of the tribe, so she chose a spot where she might better see each speaker.

The staff in K'ile Tia's right hand turned end over end in an idle motion. It was nonetheless precisely measured, constant as the passing of days, and the fire on either end drew slow circles of light in the air as he paced the outer perimeter of the gathering meeting. The beads, feathers and fetishes that ornamented his body were illuminated and shadowed in rhythm with the turning fires in his hand, and threw dark shapes upon his skin. The light he held threw his shadow into the gathering, and as he and the fire move his shadow shifted about wildly on the backs of those who had gathered.

His motions were ritual. In walking the slow, turning fire about the outside of the gathering, he was walking the sun about the horizon. It would rise and set, rise and set, and work its way through the sky from season to season as he walked. It was an imperfect gesture of respect to Azeyma, especially in the face of the perfection of the sun's actual movement. The honest, real sunrise, put this imitation to shame. But it was tradition and had always been sufficient for the shaman, the Elders, for the tribe and for Azeyma.

And so K'ile Tia walked the two flames about the gathering, moving in silence, and watched the faces of those gathering. His gaze was bored and dubious, his hair perhaps more fiery than even the fire he spun, his blue eyes looking gray and disinterested in the morning light.

K'haali rocked nervously back and forth within the dark confines of her tent. Repeating almost mantra like to herself...

She'd bode her time for some weeks since she received her "gift" that fateful evening - and with it the words that had driven her to find a new direction in her life, it was clear now to her more than ever what she needed to do; what the tribe needed to do. But she needed to employ the proper strategy, moving too soon would see her rebuffed by the elder members of the tribe, too set in their ways to shape a new future until the old one had well and truly closed.

Lifting the cover she took one more peak at the quote, scrawled by an unknown hand inside of a dusty grimoire, before swiftly wrapping it in a hempen cloth and hiding it under her bedroll. Struggling to turn in the cramped sandy conditions of her tent, she opened a leather folder and removed a sheaf of notes and survey maps as well a small hempen sack. Seemingly all a part of her grand strategy; before marching out the tent flap filled with purpose and confidence to join the gathering outside.



...Today was going to be a good day...

K'mihgazu and her daughter K'mih didn't take long to arrive, taking a seat together with other members of the tribe.

There was a persistent knot in K'mih's stomach, for she remembered that this meeting had been her idea somehow. Seeing it become a reality was quite intimidating. Sadly, she knew there wasn't much she could contribute with this time; the young Miqo'te would likely remain silent for the whole meeting, listening to what the adults had to say. They were the most capable of making important decisions, after all.

Nervous, K'mih casted a few glances around her...

"K'nahli should arrive soon, don't worry," her mother told her with a warm smile, having noticed her gesture. Her daughter was nothing short of an open book, especially for her.

With slightly pink cheeks, K'mih smiled shily and nodded her head, before taking her gaze to the elders.

A rogue, though pleasing breeze brushed softly across K'nihqa's face as she exited her tent alone and began making her way towards the centre of the camp. Casually drawing her hand up towards her face, she arced her fingers loosely together to serve as a makeshift comb before gently brushing them across the side of her face, capturing the loose strands of hair that hung low by her cheeks and tucking them nimbly amongst the main volume. The compacted, sun-baked sand beneath her feet shifted and crunched softly with each stride she took and was the only sound that could be heard with exception to the distant crackling of the fire. No chattering nor any noisy shuffling from nearby tents. It produced an eerie feeling, one that would only develop as the morning progressed.

As she reached the centre of the camp and drew closer to the fire, K'nihqa smiled softly in a brief moment where she caught eyes with K'mih, her daughter's "other half" as she liked to jest, before twirling her tail around her thigh carefully and allowing herself to sit next to the young miqo'te. She nodded modestly to K'mihgazu as she seated herself quietly while permitting her eyes to look about her, studying all of the faces that had already arrived and predicting ahead of time who would be the most vocal when it came to voicing concerns.

"This will surely make for a long day" she sighed to no-one in particular while folding her arms snugly across her chest and crossing her legs.

Her eyes traveled upwards to greet the sun as it slowly rose higher and higher into the sky. The air grew increasingly heavy and warm as a result, not that it was anything unusual for the tribal miqo'te, but it carried with it a precarious feeling. An irregular uneasiness that led K'nihqa, at least, to harbour a perturbed feeling that the meeting and all events that it would incur would give cause to a great deal of conflict and anxiety amongst the tribekin.

She sighed again, this time more quietly and directed to no-one but herself.

"As if things weren't fragile enough" she whispered to herself, though not quiet enough for it not to be overheard.

Striking violet eyes surveyed the morning sands as the sun rose to touch them. The male sat upon the far north sands of the camp. His mouth was set in a straight line, expressionless and unreadable. His eyes too, gave nothing away about what he was thinking. The sun slowly shook the chill of night from his sturdy frame. Soon it would be time for that meeting... K'yohko closed his eyes and thought deeply about the meeting. A meeting that one of his own daughters had suggested. 

With a quiet breath, he stood and the lingering coolness fell from his body. The Nunh stepped swiftly and silently across the comfortable sands, following the sun's light back to the center of camp. Already the elders had gathered in the center of the camp, and the tribe climbed from their comfortable beds to meet them. K'yohko had long since been up, unlike most of them. 

His violet eyes once again scanned the small circle gathering of tribe members. K'nihqa and K'mihgazu, K'ile, K'ailia and K'mih and K'haali. Two mates, two daughters. The Nunh chose a spot of precisely equal distance between his daughters and mates, so as not to appear to favor any of them. Thus, he sat fairly alone on the northern side of the circle. Sitting on the cooler sands, he closed his eyes and crossed his strong arms across his chest. Deep in thought about the coming meeting and what solutions and ideas his family may have.

((Don't wait up for K'mana she's in Gridania at the time of the meeting))

Half a bell after the elders arrived at the fire, the blazing pinks and oranges of the rising sun had begun to bleed pale blue at the edges. The sharp shadows of the flame K'ile Tia spun softened along with the chill that swept in every night and out every morning, leaving behind ephemeral pools of dew the tribe would religiously took advantage of.

To K'deiki's aged eyes, she judged the whole of the tribe to be in attendance - all save for one that brought a brief frown. Anxious huntresses, not wanting to waste too much of the day that could be spent collecting food, mingled with strangely more attentive youth as the tribe settled into place around the now healthily blazing fire.

Placing the stone sigil in the sand at her feet, K'deiki slowly moved to her feet, looking in turn to the other elders at her side before directing her gaze outward, through the flames.

"Eight suns have passed by the will of Azeyma since one of our sisters took her heart in hand and approached the elders," she began, and what her voice lacked in volume it made up for in authority, carrying in the still, morning air as sure as the sun cut through the sky above. "It was not the first time she had chosen to do so, but it was the first time we deemed her words more than youthful rebellion." To her right, K'takka smiled under the white cloth that wrapped her head.

Cloudy eyes left the flames to scan the crowd around them and K'deiki continued, "You have likely heard already the purpose for this circle, but now I speak it before the tribe, with Azeyma as our witness: The desert has given us food and water and shelter, but it has taken from us much more since the sky fell burning, five years past. The desert is our home, but it has grown unwelcoming. Azeyma will not abandon her people, but neither will she coddle us as children." The elder paused, bowing her head briefly both to catch her breath and consider her next words. "... We do not wish to leave our home, but some of our brothers and sisters fear we must. We stand here now, beneath Azeyma's watchful eye, and decide our own fate. Speak your thoughts to the flames so that we may decide together."

K'ailia stood and held up the scroll for all to see, "I speak to Azeyma, an my family. This scroll I bare, comes from the Headmaster o' Ul'dah Garden, a school I have been attendin'."

She walked over to the elders handing the scroll over to them, "Ventus Zeruel offers ta us, a temporary refuge so we can get back on our feet, an' if need be, find another home that can better support us. Or if we deem fit enough, return ta Sagolii ta continue livin' once more."

She turned back to the flame, "All o' Eorzea was hurt durin' the fallin' sky called the Calamity. But in me short time amongst the other races, I seen them come tagether ta rebuild an' help each other stand on their own feet."

She looked about the gathered with a smile, "We are Azeyma's children, but we are also part o' Eorzea. I think it be a good idea ta accept the open hand that seeks ta give us aid. We'd still have our privacy, we'd still be able ta practice our traditions. We'd jes have breathin' room ta get back inta a shape that will ensure we survive."

With that, K'ailia bowed and returned to her seat. She had made the proposal. It was now in the tribes hand if they would accept.

K'haali watches K'ailia return to her place, wrinkling her nose with barely concealed disdain at her suggestion before standing, dusting herself off and retrieving her bag and notes.

"I stand before Azeyma and the tribe, to rrremind us what we and our ancestors are and have always been; apex hunters and gatherers. Nothing under azeymas gaze is beyond our grrasp, and that which is beyond it we have traded our excesses for." She offers a brief glance away from the fire, seemingly judging whether she has got the crowd's imagination.

"Our ancestors came to the sagolii tracking our namesake, hipparion. When they died out, they did not starve, they did not curl up and beg azeyma for succor, nor did they go running to outsiderrrs to shelter. They found new sources of food and new game such as the desert wurms and made them ours too." K'haali almost spits at the idea of going to outsiders for succor. "In this new umbral era, once more our old sources of sustenance are changing but the deserrt's bounty remains immense, if only hidden from Azeyma's gaze."

K'haali reaches into the hemp sack and lifts out a chunk of blueish grey rock, a handful of orange crystals, and a crudely smelted iridescent blue metallic ingot.  


"Our people have used mythril for generations, it is abundant here in the rocks of the Sagolii, as well as the fire crystals needed to extract it from it's rocky hiding place. However, this abundance is found in few otherr places; and few but us can thrive in these lands even if they wanted to take it for themselves. We used to trade what we had in abundance, for that which we needed, and the day rocks and sand are in short supply is the day the void takes us all. So, before Azeyma I propose we take our unique gifts, expertise, and access to these resources and trade that which we have in abundance for that which we need."

Content to have said her piece, K'haali kneels before the fire, removing a number of maps and charts of the Sagolii region from her leather folder and setting them a safe distance from the flames, weighing the papers down with the ingot and ore sample, before returning to her place among her sisters, discreetly trying to gauge the nuhn's expression for any hint of support.

K'rei looked around at her tribe, and smiled in remembrance. Three years ago a member of this tribe had rescued her and granted her succor and a place among people of the Hipparion Tribe once more. She stood and addressed her saviours.

"Five years ago the calamity struck Eorzea, and changed the landscape much as coming of the Fifth Umbral Era and the Ice that drove our ancestors south. When Dalamund fell, so did a great number of our friends and family. When I awoke my tribe was gone, but I was young, strong and full of pride, sure that I could survive alone and one day restore my tribe. But the Amalj'aa had other ideas, and if not for K'mana I would been sacrificed to Ifrit. But instead the strength of this tribe saved me, and granted me a new home and family."

"When you are weakened, there is nothing wrong with seeking help. We do not send our huntresses out alone to seek our strongest prey, but in groups. Because together we are truly strong. I do not mean to say to discard your pride as a warrior entirely, but merely do not allow it to rule you."

K'rei turned to K'haali and addressed her, "You raise an interesting point, but I have questions you may need to think on. What will we do for tools to work the rocks, and few of us have the skill for required of a miner. Then we need think on transportation of the loads across the Sagolii and then attempt to trade profitably in a city known for its wealth of minerals and gems. You say we have always been apex hunters and gatherers but do you wish us to discard that to become miners?"

K'rei then turned to K'ailia "So your Garden extends its hand to us in our time of need, I wonder how this came about. Such an offer would be beneficial to us, but I see the need to remind us all the help does not always come freely. It is possible that they hope to curry favor among our young to join this academy. Or it is possible they wish to bolster their strength of arms, for if we were to stay with them we would undoubtedly defend our new home if they were to be attacked."

K'rei looked between both girls, "Both your ideas have merit and I love to see the young seeking what they can to support their tribe. But I will add my voice and support to K'ailia's offer, for I think that experience would serve us well as we seek a new home and new prey."

K'rei bowed once to each the girls and then took her seat.

"I'll tell you now, and hope you don't test what I say," the voice of K'ile Tia circled the group as he continued to walk, moving the fire in his hand, "That if you entertain that outsider's so-called offer, you're entertaining the end of the tribe." His eyes seemed to become more blue as dawn progressed, trading out red firelight for the white, true light of Azeyma. These eyes cut sideways at K'alia, "It's a cowards proposal! Eorzea was burned. Did we expect they wouldn't be a drought? Did we think the umbral age would not bring hard times? Of course it does! As the elders say, Azeyma will not coddle us like children. We were given the desert, and there's enough food and water here to carry us through bad times. We have to work harder for it. I'm sorry, K'ailia, if this life seems difficult to you because your time at your school has left you weak, but you're young! Not all times are times of plenty! If we trust Azeyma, we can't just flee from what she has given us. Certainly not into the hands of this master you've given yourself to outside the tribe. That such a thing was even permitted in the first place surprises me."

For a moment, the fire that K'ile was spinning flicked in the direction K'haali. "Trade is better. I don't know much about rocks and metal, but adaptation is all about learning. Our tribe has always traded with outsiders, exchanging what we have excess of for what we have shortage of. If we have excess of rocks, let us trade it for food!"

He paused his speech, very briefly, and looked over the woman K'rei. She had been adopted as a member of the tribe, but that was still a very recent thing. But, the elders did say everyone should be here, outsiders included.

K'ile added a flick to one of the rotations of his staff as he walked, and the fire on either end responded by spitting hot plumes to either side of him. "Elders. You should let me burn that gardener's scroll. It's an insult."

K'deiki held up one wrinkled hand, hidden largely behind the folds of light cloth shrouding her. "Is it an insult to offer help in a time of need?" she questioned, catching the spinning flame of K'ile's staff with faded eyes. "The message is an offer we can accept or deny. There was wisdom in our new sister's words, that we do not know the full motivation behind this gardener's offer. We should not treat it as entirely in good faith, but neither will we treat it as an insult."

Her arm dropped, hand resting back in her lap, and she bowed her head towards the fire. "We would hear more from our brothers and sisters."

"Nyaha..." the steel-blue haired miqo'te let out a modest, yet joyous laugh to herself as her arrows found both of the cans that lay parallel to each other atop a moderately, distanced rock. Striking two small targets at once from a single pull of a bow was something she felt only K'yhaega could succeed at. So much so that she had often felt that attempting to master such a technique was a waste of time. She was unsure why she had bothered pursuing the technique in recent days though she was certainly not regretting it. Her style needed perfecting, though she deemed it as success enough for one morning.

Her eyes glistened brightly as the effulgent ball of fire in the sky above radiated down upon the desert, quickly returning the frigid, Sagolii sands into the scorched saffron she was more accustomed to. Sighing in satisfaction, K'nahli turned to face towards home. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she grew curious of the impending meeting. Admittedly she had planned on not so much as even attending, though now her interest in what particular people might have to say on the matter intrigued her slightly, even if she cared little for the final deliberation. K'nahli passed a short glance down towards her hand which gripped her bow tightly. She slowly brought it up to chest level to allow herself a better look as her thoughts took a hold of her. Her eyes tapered more seriously now as she continued to focus intently on her weapon as though it served as a form inspiration to the young miqo'te.

"...I should at least appear interested... 'lest I cause unintended insult.." she spoke quietly to herself as she lowered her weapon and turned her stare once more towards the tribe. She closed her eyes briefly as she drew in a deep breath before affixing the weapon around her body carefully and briskly made her way homeward.



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K'nahli approached the campfire discreetly, choosing to enter from a direction that would arouse the least suspicion and not interrupt the ongoing proceedings. She paused briefly while still out of view from the preoccupied tribe members to scan for a place to sit. K'mih immediately caught her attention. Despite her petite build and relatively normal appearance, she was quite easy to pick out from a crowd. Or perhaps that was merely an independent trait that K'nahli had unconsciously developed for herself. Both of their mothers however, had taken seat on either side of the young miqo'te. Scanning the area again, K'nahli searched once more for a place where she could quietly listen in on the meeting without finding herself caught amongst the louder of opinions.

"...."

Stepping away from the concealing shadows of the tents, K'nahli slowly drew within range of the meeting and allowed herself to sit next to K'yohko. Though she and her father were considerably different, they were not without some very similar personality traits. She left a little distance between herself and the nuhn however, a form of unspoken, mutual agreement. 

Crossing both her legs and her arms, she sat silently alongside her father with her eyes shut calmly as her kin each took turns offering varying opinions. For the observer, one might believe she were disinterested in the events that were transpiring. An inaccurate deduction though not terribly far from the truth.

As the time came for K'ile to voice his opinion however, K'nahli's ears twitched and flicked minutely as his harsh yet passionate tone reverberated through the heavy, morning air towards her. Her eyelids rose slowly, unveiling her flaming eyes that blazed brilliantly against her youthful and contrastingly, fair face. She observed the older tia carefully as he spoke critically of K'ailias proposal, finding only, in K'nahli's opinion, raw truth in his words. His closing statement however was perhaps a little harsher than she would have cared to agree with. Her sister was young and perhaps more naive than herself, and though K'nahli didn't retain a particularly strong relationship with her, she didn't admire unnecessary brutality against K'ailia for proposing something only intended for pure purposes.

K'nahli's lips parted as she felt tempted to comment. Her gaze momentarily hopping towards K'ailia to attempt to gauge her reaction beforehand, hoping the young miqo'te hadn't been gravely upset by the tia's strong words. K'deiki, however, was more quick to rise to K'ailias defence, offering a similar insight and perhaps more weighing words than she, herself could have. K'nahli's eyelids drooped lazily once more as she returned to her passive state, awaiting any further opinion that her tribekin would yet have to offer to the debate. The heat-infused, desert air caressed her exposed skin gently as she remained seated silently next to her father. The day didn't feel unalike to any other. For now, she felt no desire to take part in the conversation. The outcome was not one that caused her grave concern. Her elders were no fools and it was arrogant to assume that they would jeopardize the safety of the tribe for the sake of tradition. She trusted the majority more than she would trust a lone, independent opinion. Be it her own or another's.