Legends of Belariath
Dhaeth
Dhaeth, or D'haeth as he was christened up on his birth to parents of both paths, one of the shamanic path, and one of the warrior. Two that came together to create life, and ended up with the mismatched male. Never quite fitting in, D'haeth spent his time within the village learning, exploring and trying to fit in with the ways and thoughts of the tribe he was part of. When he came of age, and the traders came back, he and his parents left with the rest of the clan to start upon the trading routes that they had spent years and years honing, refining and exploring for their own profit and safety.
As the sledges lead them away from the temporary camp they had been staying in, D'haeth was set down with one of each of the paths, for them to explain his choices, as he had never had leanings towards either. In fact, if truth be told, none of them held any real interest to the barbarian, who if honesty was to be said, wanted something else. He felt the music in the light, he saw the lights upon the snow, he enjoyed the beauty of life and wanted to explore it, carrying songs and stories of the clan across the land, to honor and raise his parents and his kin in the eyes of others, to show that they weren't the savaged that people had the conception of, that there was good and kindness in all.
As the discussion moved on, it was obvious that it wasn't a choice for the man, regardless of his wants, there were only the two real choices and he was ready to make his choice about where he wanted to be in the tribe.
He inwardly sighed, this was the dreaded time, the choice and with a heavy heart, he chose the path of the warrior, as he felt at least more akin to that than the other option open to him. And so the shaman left, the warrior congratulated him, before leading him off to join the others in the party.
A month passed as he learnt the ways of the warrior, honing what his parents had taught, and applying it to the tasks at hand, before he was told it was time for his quest. A feeling of panic and despair within him, the feelings of what would be required, what he was to set out to do, and he felt totally inadequate for it, but his choices were made and it was now time to follow the consequences of it. After collecting the piece of flint to be used, the leather straps that he would carry and use upon his journey, he was sent out into the icy wastes to find his totem.
For two days and two nights he traveled through the lands, finding places to stay where he could, foraging for fruit and berries as there wasn't an animal in sight, almost as if they were aware of his needs. On the third day, the top of a hill was crested, to settle his brown gaze upon a heard of beasts. Eyes regarded them for a moment, almost as if in contemplation about the four-legged things, before he turned, heading off around them and further into the wastes, something he was after, something that felt right to him, and these weren't it.
Another two days taken, till he found perhaps what he was seeking. Whereas the others would hunt the wolf, the bear, the large wild beasts, he didn't find an attraction there, instead he found himself seeking out something else, something just as deadly, but nowhere as large, or as obvious. The den was found and he spent the best part of the day studying it, exploring where it might lay and its exits, before he sat down to work. The snare crafted with practiced hands, flint used to turn the leather straps into the basis for it, before it was laid out around the mouth of the den, and then the remainder of the flint used to stoke and set the fires to flush the raccoons out, waiting for the biggest, before tugging the snare tight, dragging it off the ground and into the air to dangle till it was dead, the rest fleeing from the fire that he'd set.
And it was done, the animal taken and killed, his totem quest was over, and yet he felt that something was missing, something wasn't right with his actions, and he had no frame of reference in which to place it. But, he had fulfilled what he'd set out to do, the snare dismantled, the racoon carried with him as he set upon his return journey.
He'd almost completed the journey back to where his guides were waiting, when he saw something in the distance, a plume of smoke from somewhere. A frown upon his face, his path altering without question to head towards it, covering the ground so fast he thought he was flying for the most part, till the small copse of trees was found, and the clearing within it held the answer to the question of what had happened. A bundle of corpses was within the copse, piled upon one another in the center, with the flames being the pyre that they were set upon. He stopped in horror at the edge, regarding the figures that were there, that were dead.. or dying, as some groaned and begged for relief, even though he could see their bodies were ruined beyond salvation. A swallow, stepping forwards out of the treeline, heading towards the nearest, where he crouched and extended a hand to reach, brushing off the soot from the form there, before recoiling at the delicate humanoid features and their.. pointed ears.
He remained there for several hours, watching, gauging, exploring the remains that were there, not in a morbid sense of it all, but the curiosity that drove him, that lived inside, to find out more. He'd never, not once in his travels with the caravan, seen anyone.. or anything like this, and whilst he was horrified by what had happened, he also wanted to know more. But eventually he drew in a breath, the fire dead and nothing else to be done around the place, and so pushing himself to his feet, fingers brushing against breeches before he turned to leave and resume his journey back home, this time carrying the news of what he had found.
The time passed as he moved over the countryside, till he was back where he started, the others waiting for him, the roar of their approval, the claps of hands, the slaps on the back, the comments about his choice of totem even as he made his way towards the elder of the path, requesting a meeting because of his discovery.
And so, the meeting happened, he informed of what had happened, expecting outcry and horror, only to find acceptance and resignation of something that had become common place. They bade D'haeth to sit, and then calmly told him of the outside worlds, of those things that only few were privy to, those that had encountered something, or had the fortitude to deal with the revelations that were being offered. He sat there mutely, unbelieving that things like this happened, and were kept from the rest, before the explanation was ended and they lent back to regard him with one more question "Will you go into the world to learn and return to protect us?"
He was.. astounded, flabbergasted, speechless by the request. How could they, why would they, what wou...brain fired slowly within him but once it did, he stopped quiet for a moment, this was a chance to leave and come back, to go and learn, to sate his wants and needs, and return without problem, his option to leave as a warrior, and come back as.. well, whatever he might return as, whatever his curiosity might reveal of him, what his totem might lead him towards.
It was still daunting, the option given, what it would require and entail but there was only one option, only one answer, and a nod of head was given to those that resided within that small party, that sealed his fate for whatever would come.
And so, it fell to him to tell his family that he was leaving, to endure the cries of his mother, the saddened looks of his father, before he could gather up his belongings and get ready to leave. There was no advice given, no words to taint his experiences or the teaching that he might return with to the clan when it was time, and so when all was prepared, the dead of night called, and he left, leaving the caravan with the quietness that he'd come into the world.
That departure from his home lands, from his family marked a change with the young barbarian, out into the world with only his wits, the words of the elders and his own eyes to see and make sense of it all, to glean what he could from the world to return at some point, should it be fated to merge his knowledge with those who had performed the same in the past. Lands were travelled, roads taken, rivers crossed and many a thing seen. The pleasure and pain of those of both sexes, the misery and exhaltation of those taken for slaves, the sadness and joy of battle and trials, and of the words that spoke of that legendary inn, that told of the fortunes to be found in its embrace, of the pleasures and pains that could be wrought by those who were its patrons, and of the knowledge that one could gain should they be able to brave its depths.
And so the, perhaps foolish, young man set off to find this fabled establishment, so that he could throw himself into its arms and its aura with all he could, so that his trip and his life wouldn't be like others from his clan....