14th of The First Seed, 1647.
The cold gusts of wind licked across the shamans back as he entered a newly carved out cave in San’Kala, the winters were brutal to adapt to for the desert native but he quickly found his way towards a fire in the cave. He sat around the burning fire and set down his belongings, a wolf headed staff, his canteen, his sword belt and lastly a bag he wore on his hip. He would adjust himself in his seat before rummaging through that bag for a large amount of cactus green in a drawstring sack. He would look it over before tossing it into the flames and taking a long swig of his canteen and lay his staff in his lap before he gave his surroundings a look around and then looking back to the fire. He would close his eyes and then begin the familiar Old Blah chanting.
“Frumz, bugdizg latz, anork uzg gorbugudlab.”
He spoke the words clearly a few times before he had felt himself slipping away. The warmth of the fire he sat in front of no longer warmed his skin and the weight of his staff no longer weighed in his lap.
The process was familiar to the Farseer now and he began to focus on filling in his senses. He began with his sight, slowly beginning to see a black and white scene around him. Trees, vines, rain, mud. Slowly they all came to life with color as the shaman focused on such. Next he began to focus on hearing his surroundings. Initially he was put off focus by a loud ringing before he began to hear the rain patter against the foliage that blocked out his view of the sky. He heard birds trilling out and a certain uneasiness came about him. He focused on his sense of touch, he stuck his staff into the mud beside him and began rubbing his hands together and feeling a tingling throughout his body as feeling came to him. The area was humid and uncomfortable but the shaman directed his focus to filling in his senses of taste and smell and they soon made it clear to him that he was in a dense jungle.
He pulled his staff from the mud and his mind was distracted, he was overwhelmed with memories of Kharajyr and Hou-Zi villages and even a Goi he had called home for a brief period of time. The Shaman recalled feasting and hunting in jungles as he came upon a large pond with rocks jutting from the water. He stopped at the area, kneeling and surveying his surroundings to see monkeys in the branches of trees around the water, a jaguar lapping up the water, beetles crawling across a nearby log and curiously the surface of the water rippled from more than the rain. He began to notice that some of what he had mistaken for rocks were crocodiles and he slowly stood up. He raised up from where he was standing and through muscle memory he stamped his staff before him, right into the water. It seemed though for a moment as though the creatures around him all paused and looked directly at him. The foreigner was known by all here and shaman cursed cursed at himself before sending his mind reeling and calling out in Old Blah
“Nazark’Gorkil, Mazaukgoth, Hondhognûrz agh inûrlal ob Phaedrus’Yar.” He introduced himself “Amal Nazark?” he asked where he was.
Nothing in the area moved except the water began to ripple and in the middle of the pond arose a massive crocodiles head. It’s head only sat part of the way above the water but it was clearly the main focus of everything in the jungle. Slowly at first and then all at once the head of the crocodile began to cut through the water. The shaman knew he only had moments to figure out what he would do as he watched the creature come towards him and he took his staff in both hands, resolving not to back down. In a blink of an eye the creature was almost upon the shaman and it erupted from the water to reveal that below the massive crocodile head was a gorilla body that stood much taller than the shaman. In an instant the creature was upon the Shaman and wrapped his massive arms around the orc. Nazark’s staff dropped into the mud and he resorted to attempting to wrap his legs around the hips of the monstrous creature and trying to push off of it’s chest with his hands. He struggled for a moment but it was useless, he was simply outclassed in every regard and he was slammed into the mud and his neck was grabbed by the massive primate hands of the spirit.
The spirit barked out something in Old Blah and it took the shaman a moment to translate it in his head as he worked out that he was being commanded to yield. The legs of the Gorkil unwrapped from the hips of the spirit and released him from his guard. The spirit gave his neck a final squeeze before letting go and grabbing the shaman’s torso in his hands and tossing it through the foliage of the jungle. Nazark grabbed at his ribs, knowing there was injury and he raised his hands in surrender. The creature would stand up straight and cackle before declaring
“You thought you would settle so near my domain without giving me the respect I deserve? The arrogance is clearly unfound.” spits out the spirit “You will give me the respect I am due. If you wish the jungle near you to allow you to stay in your place then you will do as I command.”
The shaman nodded slowly as he worked through the translation and he responded “I understand. What you ask will be done.”
The spirit would cackle “Of course it will be. Take your people into that jungle and erect a grand totem to the great Zagbal.” he would beat his chest “Do this for me and prove you worth and I shall permit you to continue to dwell so closely to my domain.”
Nazark would stand, nodding “I promise, this will be done.”
Zagbal would reach down and toss the shaman his staff before bellowing out “Then go.” as he commanded the Gorkil to return to the realm he had came from and he would do just that. Returning to San’Kala and letting his brothers and sisters know what must be done and that he would need their help to do so.