Act I
I felt heavy, as I sat up on the soft yet rough bed I was laying on. The room smelled of alcohol, as I looked around. I was inside a longhouse that was built with only one room which was the large hall I fell asleep in.
I looked down and saw I wasn't lying on a bed but a hide covered bench, my head ached as I tried remembering why my throat was so dry and why my chest was covered with a few dozen hand prints.
I stood up and then started walking towards one of the doors, quickly I opened one and then left.
"Hmm. . ." I groaned, as I felt the sun on my eyes and skin, it was painful but only for a moment as for some reason that pain took away my headache. With the pain in my head gone, I was sobered enough to find a well.
Gulp* I took a deep drink from the bucket used to draw water, I kept drinking until my throat felt less hoarse, that was when the memories from last night came rushing in.
"Oh yeah, there was a feast last night." I thought out loud as I poured the cold well water on my head. The cold made me remember my circumstances, it's been a week since we were taken by the Faennar clan.
They were hospitable slim formed swan people, they mostly looked like humans but with yellow lips, winglike arms and duck feet. Also they were much shorter than humans, atleast those who weren't from their warrior caste, as some of them were unusually tall.
"Friend Merciful Sun, how are you?" I looked up to see it was one of those warrior castes I was thinking about, unlike their common caste. She was wearing a wooden feathered mask and she was tall, atleast tall enough to reach my neck.
"I'm fine, just a little hangover." I told her honestly as I sat straight and met her blue eyes.
Quak quak quak* She laughed a quaking laugh, as her feathers ruffled, after hearing why I was washing myself.
"You shouldn't accept every invitation, Friend Merciful Sun. There are just too many kinfolk, who want to be blessed by hosting you in their long house." I nodded, it wasn't a secret why so many of the Faennar clan wanted me in their longhouses to feast.
"I know, but your kinfolks are just too insistent for me to refuse." I told her as I started washing the dyed hand prints on my chest, none of them covered the brand near my heart. The same brand the warrior was eyeing with reverence.
"Sigh. . . Do you want a blessing?" I asked simply as I gave the warrior woman a gentle look, which made her stiffen, as her feathers ruffled.
"You don't need to friend Merciful Sun, you're already cleansing yourself, I can wait for until the next feast. . ." She stopped herself, it almost made me laugh at how bad she was at inviting me.
I wonder which family she was from, the thought came as I remembered my observation of their clan. In how they had a council system, with each family having atleast one Elder in that council.
As I was thinking my eyes were looking around and I saw a few other warrior caste swan people hiding behind corners, they were probably waiting for me to accept or refuse this one.
Note to self, when I get back to the waking world I should label them as natives that are both Hospitable and Religiously devout to the Sun.
"It's fine, but I'm only doing it for you, I'll be busy after." I spoke loudly but gently, making those hiding to move away and casually look like they were busy with their morning routines.
"Of. . . Of course! Thank you, Friend Mercyful Sun." The swan woman spoke out with joy, as she took off her leather glove and started pressing her soft feathered hand on my lower chest.
I took a breath as I started focusing, and within a moment her hand was covered with pale flames. Slowly those flames traveled from her hand to her whole body, she was shaking as I felt heat on my heart.
"I am the Merciful Sun, Marked by the Lightbringer, I accept your sacrifice." I prayed softly, as white smoke burnt out from the swan woman and seeped into me.
[You have purified a soul.]
I felt her hand weaken, then she lost her footing, I caught her as she fell. Her greying feathers were now as white as snow, I didn't remove her mask as it was apparently a sacred thing to cover their faces. But I can feel here breathing at a rhythmic pace.
Easily I carried her up, she might be tall and tightly muscled but yet she felt like a baby in my arms. Out of nowhere a small group of the common caste of these swan people who only reached my hips started mobbing me.
"Friend Merciful Sun! Friend Merciful Sun! Let us take the blessed one! Blessed one!" They spoke out, I shrugged and gave them the unconscious warrior swan woman. Quickly they carried her away, as I looked down and saw a new hand print, I gave it a moment to settle, and then let out a tired breath as I started washing it away.
Act II
"Hello? Elder Swinnet?" I respectfully called out as I entered a long cottage, it was richly decorated with feathers and animal hides. With herbs and different kinds of bones hanging everywhere.
There was even a small shrine near the door, with incense that smelled of ginger, nuts and pine sap burning inside a stone bowl, infront of a wooden figure of a swan holding a golden coin.
"Is that you, Friend Merciful Sun?" The voice was aged, as I tried sensing where the voice was coming from.
"Yes, it's me Elder." I spoke out again, as I crouched and then sat on my usual seat whenever I visited this friendly elder, my chair was a pillow made of feathers.
Within moments the elder appeared from a room to my left, holding a bowl of steaming water. I gave her a small bow as she fixed me and herself a cup of tea.
"Tell me, why visit me, Friend Merciful Sun?" She asked, as she stirred her tea with a wooden wick, I did the same, making mine froth before I started sipping.
"I want to learn about your patrons." I spoke to her honestly, as I didn't want her to misinterpret anything. She didn't answer immediately, focusing on her tea.
"A Blessed of the Solar pantheon, wants to learn of are patrons. . ." She spoke slowly, as if thinking of her own words. Elder Swinnet was a clan divine speaker, that's why she was the one I was asking for knowledge.
"I can tell you of the stories of our patrons, but I cannot share even to a clan friend the sacred rituals of our clan." Her words sounded of finality which made me nod.
"That is fine with me Elder, I only want to learn more about your people's faith. I do not lust for your magic, even though it is within my greed to learn of it." I smiled as I replied to her, which made her perpetual frown too curl.
"You speak the truth, Friend Merciful Sun. Now what do you want to learn first?" She asked, before taking a sip.
"I want to learn of that Patron, the one you have a personal shrine for." I told her as I motioned to the shrine near her front door.
"She is Lady Faennar, our ancestral patroness and clan founder." I looked back at the shrine, surprised that the figure was a swan and not more humanlike.
"Can you tell me a story about her Elder Swinnet?" I was thoughtful, ancestral worship was a common thing during early humanity. Usually the people would only venerate great people, and rulers would try and convince those they lord over that they are somehow related to those venerated ancestors.
Is it the same here in the dreaming realm? I never once believed that the dreaming realm Natives were less developed than Terra, as most civilians had convinced themselves off. I believe It's just that unlike Humanity the natives of the Dreaming realms developed with a fifth fundamental force. . . Magic.
Act III
"Of course, we have three stories about them. The one I tell to our hatchlings, the other I tell to our warriors and the last I tell our elders. . . The last one I cannot tell you." I thought about it and then nodded.
"Elder, can you tell me, the one you tell your clan's hatchlings?" I asked as I shifted the pillow I was sitting on.
She looked stunned for a moment but then smiled, atleast I think she smiled. It was hard to see, as even the elders like her wore a wooden feathered mask with her lips covered with a curtain of feathers.
"Long ago, in the era before this one. Nearing the end of the Golden Era, a great city had been killed; his name was Tertia, one of the six golden sons of the Golden Sun Emperor. With his wall crumbling death, his wife the Blazing shield was filled with wrath as she left to fight her husband's killer, leaving the protection of the ruins of her husband to her two knights."
Elder Swinnet paused, seemingly waiting for something. Was she waiting for me to say something?
"One of those generals was Lady Faennar?"
I was uncertain, but my words seemed to have been the thing Elder Swinnet was waiting for.
"No it wasn't Lady Faennar but her father, the First Rider."
The name sounded odd, as I felt like the translation of my aspect was wrong but I didn't question it as I let Elder Swinnet continue.
"With the Blazing Shield gone, to her law father's court. Leaving the protection of the ruins of Tertia to the knight captain of the Riders and the knight captain of the Charioteers, the two squabbling patrons in their own right never agreed with each other, but still they did their duty."
I wonder if a city could really be considered a patron. . . And a living city? Is it more like living inside a large tree? Or more like what the New Cyber City is trying to do? With their development of a city wide general management AI?
"The first challenge was a procession from the Little Sun, a Quaestor from the Golden Capital came. Surprised to see the city, without its protector patron. He asked the two rulers of Tertia's corpse, 'When will you start building?' the Questor was asking when the two will start building their portion of the Sun Dome."
Sun Dome? That sounded important, I never read anything about it in the journals. Is it named differently by us?
"The two Sun captains rebuked the Quaestor, making him retreat with his procession in shame. The second challenge was another official from the Golden Capital, he was a Praetor and behind him was not another procession of courtiers, merchants and artisans but an army of blood thirsty worshipers of the Crimson Sun."
I continued to listen, the story was a long one. Filled with lore that would have taken me years of ruin diving to uncover. Still, like all oral history, the one Elder Swinnet had shared was probably filled with misremembered facts, or made up things to tell a lesson.
"Near the end of the Exodus of the Riders, when my ancestors were finally safe from the Cold Sun's blizzarding army. They had one question in mind, 'Will you be our king?' The knight captain, now known as Lord First Rider, shook his head."
Elder Swinnet paused, as I saw her eyes glow a golden orange light.
"I will not be your king, and those of my blood will never become kings, for we Riders will only have one rightful ruler. Our patron, the Guardian Sun."
The brilliant golden light faded as Elder Swinnet turned back to normal, that was when I noticed my legs and hands were shaking yet for some it's not because of fear as I did not feel cold.
"Control your flames, Friend Merciful Sun."
The elder said gently, as I looked around me to see my side of the room was engulfed in pale flames. Quickly I shook my head and focused on my breathing, deeply taking my breath and shallowly giving it back.
Within moments I felt my excitement dampened, as I felt the room returned to its cool temperature compared to the sauna I turned it into a few moments ago.
"Good, now to finish the story."
I opened my eyes, as I felt amusement from the old woman as she spoke those few words.
"With the Riders kingless, great infighting appeared between the many sons and daughters of Lord First Rider. That was when the Thinker gave us the idea to split into six clans and that each clan would be composed of six families with each family head ruling the clan in the form of a council. . ."
I thought about it, and this Thinker, was he a patron too? The story has been long and a lot of figures sounded less like rankers and more like divine beings in their own right.
"Our clan ancestor Faennar, was the leader of the 6th clan who splitted from the original Rider clan. We don't know how we got here, in this strange land, but our ancestors felt it was a safe enough place to grow and live."
I felt thoughtful as the story ended but then a question appeared.
"Does that mean you're not from here?"
I asked, curiously, are they like us human rankers? Who travels from Terra to the Dreaming realms using their Souls or avatars? But that can't be, I've seen their children, which means they can reproduce. . .
We can't do that, atleast I think we can't. And the Horrors, they don't reproduce this I'm sure off, it was one of the few topics I badgered my professors until they taught us all they knew. . . Much like us, horrors would just appear out of nowhere.
"No, our ancestor Faennar was an adventurous sort, she saw a rift in our world and charged into it leading our entire clan with her. Also our early history after coming to these lands were burnt, an ancestor of the 3rd generation burnt a part of our story house you see."
I wasn't fully paying attention as I realized we Rankers were closer to the Horrors we hate compared to these natives. . . We need to find a temple soon, I need to talk to my professors.