#infinite thanks to emex for providing the impetus to start with the maze-lands and for finally naming the continents

[dawn-of-worlds]

Riders and Steeds

Siarruk turn 9: 5 (leftover) + 1 (non-hoarding bonus) + 8 (roll) = 14 pts

Humans - travellers along the coast, exiles from the jungles of the Cardinal River, and intrepid explorers - have of late settled in the maze-lands of the southern continent. Their lives there are rough and short; the land is bereft of the cover they have learned to rely on, and food is hard to come by here. Sorrow and toil dominate their days.

Siarruk takes pity on these itinerant fools, and blesses one of their number, an expectant mother. Her child will be born with silver hair, a clear mark of greatness, the wisdom of youth in a young body; they name her Mpaden, Moon-Seeker.

Create Avatar: 7 pts

Mpaden shows great facility with the beasts of the maze-lands, charming turtles into her arms, and as she grows an idea sets into her head: she will tame the greatest beasts of all, and banish the fear from her people's hearts.

The monsters of the maze-lands, longmeer, are feared by the unprotected humans for their size and strength. Their crocodilian bodies and strong legs move swiftly over the tops of the ravines, while their meter-long necks and mouths full of teeth reach down into the brambles to pluck berries, eggs, and animals as large as young boars. They are viciously reactive and suspicious of newcomers, and are named also the killers of huntsmen. When Mpaden set out into the brush to tame a longmeer, her clan holds a funeral for her; her father whips himself with a braid of silver to mourn her foolishness.

Mpaden seeks out a mother longmeer in her nest, and at first is chased away, but she will not relent. Making camp in the barrens, she discovers a turtle in her bedroll, and spears it to death. She smears its blood and flesh on her body, and when she enters the nest the longmeer does not kill her, but licks the meat from her skin. She spends the night in its den, and leaves the next morning with two eggs cradled in her arms.

Command Avatar (Create Subrace): 2 pts

Mpaden raises the young longmeer from the egg, and they grow to follow her without question. The bonded pair of beasts become her mounts as she unites the clans of the maze-lands. Named Unna and Enna, they are the first of many, and Mpaden's people use their new mastery of longmeer to great advantage. In her middle age, Mpaden herself leads a band of raiders north, where they take treasures from the clans which once exiled her ancestors; but in the battle she is struck down by a stray spear. Her body is pinned to Unna's back, who bears her uncomplainingly home.

Her people prepare a great funeral for their founder, but Unna will not allow her body to be removed. When her father approaches, furious in grief, silver whip in hand, Mpaden's lifeless body raises an arm to take it from him - and Unna and Enna trot off into the night.

The Moon-Seeker remains a rider in the night. She becomes a legend among the longmeer-people, who are named the Denni. In moonlight she can be seen roaming the earth, always far from the road, but her eternal mounts' steps are sure. With a whip of silver hair she chastises poachers and despoilers, but a few claim to have met her in the wilderness and been invited to ride beside her on Enna. These few invariably return changed, gifted with the tongues of beasts.

Advance Civilization: 5 pts

In the next hundred years, the Denni set themselves apart not only as raiders of the jungle-peoples but as consummate scouts and survivors on meerback. They forge new trade routes on the continent they learn to call Akhon, from the maze-lands and the southernmost peninsula to the Cursed Sea. In time they come to regard themselves as separate from island- and tree-borne humanity; they are generally shorter and squatter, with their close bonds with the longmeer, practice of self-flagellation and blood baptism, and skill with necromancy setting them apart.

Siarruk has 0 points remaining.