linzexu

After one of Skana's sisters reads him the letter of the Lioness, he duly folded it up and carried up the cliffside to the shrine of Nemglan. He threw the paper into the sacrificial brazier. He then gazed upwards at the amber eyes of his patron, and spoke quietly. (He can perhaps be heard by those who frequent the Shrine, such as those in the nearby Sirame Hall, or the Tahorrans. "Great Eagle Spirit. Today you have shown me a grim truth. As a boy living among the River Eagles, I was fed story upon story of the grand purpose of the druids. How they were infallible guardians of our forests. That each one would never falter in their duty to protect the wild and its balance. Growing up, I was told the ancient tale of Garthon Morncalaq, the Archdraoi who tapped into a vile and ancient power to seize control over nature, seal away our beloved Green Dragon, and throw the world into imbalance. My grandmother told me- 'a man like Garthon will rise again. But the Druids will stop him. The Druids will restore the balance." What a grand and intoxicating lie that was! Today I watched an entire coven of warrior-druids do nothing as a modern-day Garthon, known fittingly as the Viper, stood before them all and spoke proudly about how he intended to shackle the Mani Spirits to his will. To do his bidding. To feed his power. I was in disbelief. Such as the ancient Archdraoi Garthon once stood before our ancestors, speaking of his plan to usurp our beloved Taynei'hiylu and seal her into the earth, here stood a man with more or less the same ambition! And who spoke out against this horror? Did the venerable Ichor Druid or Lioness Druid act against this ancient trauma of our people come to life? No. Surely, a man who seeks nothing less than utter domination over the natural world and its spirits would be the very thing the proud Ichorian lives to fight against. But instead of fulfilling their duty, who did they choose to raise their arms against? The warrior who dared to call out evil for what it was. When I was small, I was told stories of Garthon's great war. I was told that while many of our ancient ancestors remained true to the Great Prophet Taynei, many more of our ancient kin fought alongside the Archdraoi in his goal to subjugate the Aspects' domain under his complete domination. As a naive child, I wondered why our kin would ever side with such an evil man. But now I understand. I see how raw anger, aggression and touchiness can blind to true threats of nature. If Garthon were alive today, surely he would find no trouble at all wooing the Ichor Druid and the Lioness to his side. I did indeed speak out of turn. I, a dedicant, acted with disrespect at a Moot. And for this, I was punished by the maiming of my eye. I thank you for this lesson, for it has taught me much about the Druids. For example, to them, a young man offending their touchy honour by speaking out of turn was a larger priority than the sorcerer who openly admitted he intended to enslave the sacred Children of the Aspects into his personal conduits of power. He was treated as a friend. I, an infestation to be rid of. Great Eagle Spirit. I hope you have made me suffer today as a way to test my faith, and not compel me to abandon it. I admit, my devotion wavers. How can I stay true to the Aspects when I have seen nothing but pettiness, cruelty and bloodlust from their most esteemed servants? I suppose the old adage is true... 'never meet your heroes'." Skana drew his ivory knife and placed it to his left palm, closing his eyes he made a shallow cut across his flesh, allowing the blood to seep into the sacrificial fire below. "Great Eagle Spirit, I give you my essense. And in doing so, put my life in your hands. If I am truly wrong for having spoken out against the Viper and those complicit in his schemes, then send me to my death. If I am correct in my disillusionment that all Druids are petty and self-serving, then send me a sign that I should sever my ties to this wild faith. If I should hold out hope, that there are yet still Druids who stay true to their duties in the face of chaos and imbalance..." Skana trailed off, glancing up at the starry night above. He leaned against the brazier and closed his good eye tiredly, falling asleep under the open sky, under the looming shadow of the wings of Nemglan.

You continue to dishonour yourself with your lies. Lie the first. I never drew my weapons upon any of your ilk unprovoked. While Taeral spoke I did nothing but grip tight the handle of my club as a reflex to the utter evil of the words he spoke. I did not draw it, swing it, or otherwise state any intention to use it. Infact I did not draw my weapons until after you pointed your spear at me. You lie poorly. I made no such assault on your disciples. They initiated conflict by forcefully grabbing me, and I did nothing but try to break myself free. Furthermore you had no right to remove me from the dolmens on the hill, where the moot was held. These are Elvenesse lands, under the law of the Crown-bearer. You are no Exarch, nor Emerald Guard. You have no right to enact force upon anyone. By having your disciples seize me, you are in violation of our peoples' law, not I. I will not apologize for offering you or Viper insult. Any man who speaks of something so evil as use dark sorcery to enslave a Mani deserves to be called out upon. It is absolutely pitiful how you continue to silence dissenting voices, censoring any speech that you do not abide by despite preaching that everyone should have the strength to stand by what they believe in. This is especially distressing when you sit by and do nothing as your compatriot speaks openly about harnessing vile sorcery to enslave the spirits of nature for the sake of their own power, spirits you are sworn to protect. That an ancient druid offered no resistance to such an evil proposition, but a boy had to do it for you, is pitiful. I do not care whether or not Lioness was acting on your behalf. I do not care that you made a feeble attempt to stop her solely to save face. You held your own honour in your hands when I was helpless and unconscious before you. A foe you were supposed to fight fairly, but had been brought down by hands other than your own. You chose to claim a prize you had not won. You chose to maim me while I could not defend myself. Now, when I am weak, injured and one-eyed, you demand a duel? A duel you've ensured you will win by maiming me when the opportunity presented it to you? The moment you sliced me with your spear, you lost every right you had to be treated like an honourable opponent. That moment, you lost all your credibility. Furthermore, in continuing to insist I threatened to murder you, you either remain willfully ignorant, or are choosing to be a liar. When you broke our law, and stained your honour by maiming my eye after a fight you did not win, I told you I would grow stronger, and bring onto you the same suffering you brought onto me. That is not a call for death, that is a call for justice. Justice some day, by the will of Amaethon and the wisdom of Nemglan, I hope I will have. The wisdom of the wild faith tell us that death is a natural thing, but should only come when necessary. A stag dies so the wolves can feed, and survive. A mighty oak burns admist a forest fire, so new saplings can grow where it stood. I do not fear death, for it is as natural as life. But what do you want to kill for? You want to take a life because words you did not like were spoken out of turn. That is not a death that serves a natural purpose. That is a death taken for nothing but the sake of pride. Your bloodlust violates the very core of our faith. Violates what the sacred Horned Lord Cernunnos, a God you claim to so closely follow, stands for. I will not bend to your ultimatum, I will stand up for myself, my beliefs and my family on my terms, not yours. Your words mean nothing to me. You are a hypocrite, and a coward.

After Skana had his tribal kin read the declaration to him, he had his scribe for him an open letter in reply. Ichor Druid, Let me first state, that as a disciple of the monks of Chi, it goes against the rites of my master to take life unless absolutely necessary. Even if I wished to entertain your demands, I would have to sacrifice my place among the Monks to do so. Now let us get down to the main points. I do not owe you a single thing. I do not have to acknowledge your ultimatum, or play by your rules. Your demand for an honour duel would hold warrant if you had a shred of honour, but you have shown before all today that you do not. Did I offend brother Viper? your brother Viper uttered complete blasphemy about shackling the Mani Princes to his will. Enslaving my Gods. I did not offer him insult, he offered insult to me. You also speak with double-standard. In the same breath you condemn me to death for offering others insult, you too have insulted the honour of my ancestors, my forefathers, and my tribe. But it matters not, the Tahorran have weathered worse than you. Faced crueler manner of monster than you. You condemn me for running your tongue, and yet you run yours. We are stronger than your yapping, and your words mean nothing to us. You taught me to fight for my beliefs, to never back down from a fight. Was it not my duty- by your own teachings, to stand up against a man who threatened all that I hold dear? Yet you tried to silence me. You teach your disciples to never back down, but force them to do so if it undermines you and your authority. if it goes against YOUR personal beliefs.You are a hypocrite, and every man, woman and spirit of the forest with a shred of wisdom can see this. I further find it amusing that you have the nerve to demand an honour duel on your terms after your act of utter disgrace at the moot. First, instead of fighting your own battle as your own code demands, you ordered your minions to do your dirty work for you. Simply because I chose to speak out against a man who wished to enslave my gods. I asked you to duel me with honour, not a duel to the death mind you, as you now demand of me. And yet before I could even raise my arms I was struck from behind and knocked unconscious from behind before our fight could even begin. Then, as I lay helpless before you by way of this vulturesque strike, you blinded my eye, claiming a prize for a victory YOU did not win. Now, you ask for an HONOURABLE duel, when you have maimed and weakened me with your DISHONOURABLE actions? You censor those who speak any words inconvenient to your ears. You defeat your enemies by having your disciples do your work for you. You maim a boy simply for speaking out of turn. You are not a woman guided by honour, but a woman who lashes out with cruelty when your pride is wounded. You posture yourself like a noble Lioness, and yet you act like a cackling dog at the head of a feral pack. My honour does not depend on you. Your words mean nothing to me. Let me make one other thing clear. You claim I swore I would kill you. But that is not what I said, is it? I told you after you took my eye that when I got stronger I would inflict on you the same suffering you inflicted on me. In time, perhaps I shall fulfill that promise. What I do know is this: when I decide to confront you, it will be when I choose and on my terms, because I do NOT dance to your tune. When I confront you, I will be as strong as you are. Unlike you, an ancient Druid, so eager to challenge and kill someone you call little more than a boy. Unlike you, I dont see murder as justice. To me, justice is dealt proportionately to the crime given. Your crime was to take my eye- despite never having earned the right. Never having bested me. I seek an eye for an eye, nothing more. You are a murderer, but I am not. I am stronger than your hateful beliefs and have NO obligation to live by them. You will not make me into a killer. In time I will ensure you see justice for your crime. But I will not murder you. I am not your dog. I do not answer to your call. When the time is right, I will see justice done. And like your Ichorians stand behind you, my tribe and my people stand behind me.

Skana ap Tahorran cannot read...

Somewhere between here and the eternal forest, a red-tailed hawk soars across a sunset sky, and releases a shrill, mournful screech of sorrow.

Laetranis pays the letter no mind, going back to making up for lost time with his family and resuming his druidic lessons with his pupils.

"Don't look at me, I wanted a brown ethnostate." Says the Green Priest.

IGN: tsaingwen Discord: linzexu#3371 Character Name: Laetranis ap Tahorran Position: Artisan Art: Carpentry, Pottery, Culinary!

This looks quite nice, it reminds me of the ruins of Petra in Jordan

"This man spews propaganda like a snake spews venom. If I sneezed in his presence he would probably write ten leaflets about how Elvenesse is infested with plague." Says a melanin-rich elf.

tfw the harambe shitpost i made back in 2016 actually maintained itself as a playable race for 5 years and outlasted the snow elves and the kha godspeed my beautiful monkeys you had a good run

The art she did for me was gorgeous, if you want value for quality then I highly suggest you commission artwork from Twilight!

Sarai, the daughter of Malin? Pah, at best she was a lesser chieftain who lived many generations after the forefathers' dissapearance, who doomed her tribe to a life of human mortality because she was unable to control her own base desires! Says a wood elf tired of the appropriation of his culture in mainstream P-ollywood productions. [[Don't lynch me I am merely a friendly shitposter, oocly I appreciate the time, effort and creativity that goes into making these 🙂 ]]