The party did make their way to a large gathering the nomads had once night fell. Surrounding a large bonfire that served to cook massive chunks of the mineral bull’s meat. They all got a healthy serving, and took the time to ask a couple questions. Mainly about the hunting parties, by which they asked Hayat. From him they found out that they assembled early in the morning, and spent most the day hunting, or until they found a dangerous creature whose presence forced them to retreat after killing it. It was both a passtime for the nomads, who valued the hunt and the opportunity to take down worthy prey and feed themselves, and more recently a necessity due to all of the creatures appearing around the Blooming Grove of late.
Tahir wondered if all the hunting stretched the nomads thin, but Hayat told him that they had nearly half a dozen hunting parties going out on a daily basis, with more or less depending on if anyone had gotten injured and had to spend time recovering, or if they had died. They have had a few casualties in the recent weeks, one of which previously inhabited the tent Tahir’s party stayed in, but the mages helped to fill in the gaps. The party would as well, since they were offering. Hayat seemed ecstatic to hear that the party basically volunteered their services. Tahir didn’t know how much they actually used gold, so he didn’t ask, though he remembered Merenthyl saying something about them trading with Isanthyr often. For Meti and Theo, they could use the time to look for some rarer materials while the hunt went on, and take more from anything they happened to come across. With the opportunity to take parts of whatever they hunted in the relative safety of a large group of aura users, the hunt would hopefully pay for itself.
So the group got up early the next morning, and with the exception of Hasio, who elected to stay behind and watch the guild’s movements to see if he could find out if they were connected to the monster problem, they made their way back to the central crossroad of the Grove, where a little more than a dozen people gathered and discussed. It seemed that most of the hunting parties had left already, and another made their way out of the grove just as the group arrived, leaving about six left, including Shukri.
“Ah, you lot.” She said, when she noticed them. “Hayat told me you were interested in joining. You’re in luck. All of those mages that guild’s been sending have already left, so we could use one.” She looked over the party, appraising them. “Will all of you be able to handle moving all day? Many of the mages didn’t quite have the stamina.”
Tahir thought back to Harris, who seemed like he managed but otherwise looked like he absolutely didn’t want to be there. Other than the dangerous fights they got into, he could start to imagine why. “Don’t worry, all of us can use aura. We’ll be able to keep up at least.”
“All of you?” That seemed to pique Shukri’s interest. Tahir imagined he was hard to read, with his sword and staff, a magical cloak instead of any armor. Meti looked all the mage she was with her staff, and Theo could have been anything her pouch of alchemical reagents and potions. “Very well, we are rather short on hunters for this party anyway. I’ve seen a bit of what you’re capable of, so I will trust that the rest of your group will not be a burden.”
“You’re leading this hunting party, I take it?” Tahir asked, and Shukri turned her attention to him.
“Quite. The only reason I wasn’t leading the one you stumbled across us in was because Hayat was there.”
“Ah, it’s a ‘best hunter gets to lead’ kind of thing, I got it.” Tahir replied. Shukri simply smirked, happy that he seemed to pick up on the situation. Tahir glanced at the rest of the hunters, a mix of older and younger nomads all assembled. He’d seen what the group of them managed to do to the mineral bull when Tahir managed to restrain it. He’d also seen Shukri pierce its hide before he restrained it, her getting flung away by its tail immediately after notwithstanding. For her to be considered one of the better hunters, she really had to be something special.
“Wonderful that you understand. Now, let us be off. The beasts will not wait for us, and they certainly won’t wait for you.”
With that, the hunting party left the Blooming Grove. Tahir’s party brought up the rear, as they started to make their way to the area where they’d start patrolling. “This is good for us, right?” Tahir asked, looking at Meti and Theo. “That we don’t have someone from the Crow’s Black Feathers, I mean.”
“It means we won’t have to worry about it being reported immediately, should we find something.” Meti replied. “Regardless of whether or not the mage we got would have been involved, being able to operate without their knowledge means if we find something, we can follow a trail if one exists, before they have time to cover it up.”
“Right, speaking of finding anything-.” Tahir looked forward, and called to warn the rest of the hunting party, before he summoned Dahlia once more. She appeared next to him in a flourish, and looked around, transfixed. They were still on the edge of the grove, and she could look back and see further in.
“Oh, this space is lovely.” She beamed. It did remind Tahir of the glade he found her in when he made the contract with her. “It would be better if not for those strange feelings I’m getting though. Oh well, I’ll manage.”
“Strange feelings?” Tahir asked. The hunting party had slowed, some of them pausing to look at the diwata before Shukri told them to keep moving. He could tell at least that they were paying attention and listening closely to his conversation, but he didn’t want to switch to a language they didn’t understand, or one they likely did. “Like what?”
“The feeling of the void, from back that way.” She pointed back toward the Blooming Grove. Tahir nodded in response, that would likely be the ruin site, since they tended to cause void corruption where they popped up. It made sense that some void energy would still persist even after the initial void corruption had been cleared out. “Then…a few more in different directions. But a fair bit further out.”
Just what they’d been hoping for. Tahir figured she would have a nose for anything unnatural. Theo walked up to Dahlia. “Oh! Do you think you could pinpoint them?” She asked.
“With some time, surely.” The Diwata responded.
Tahir looked forward to Shukri, who’d even turned her head to glance back at them at this point. She had a slight scowl, as if she already guessed what they were about to ask. “We’ve yet to even begin the hunt and you’re already asking to go elsewhere?”
“We can guarantee that this will be worth the detour.” Meti replied. “And if it isn’t, feel free to make us carry any spoils you’d get for whatever we end up hunting today in your stead.”
Shukri’s eyes narrowed, as she looked between the four of them, and then the rest of her hunters, before letting out a sigh. “Fine. Lead the way. We’ll see if this is anything more than a distraction.”
“Are you sure?” Tahir asked. “We understand this is a bit much to ask out of nowhere.”
“I would be a fool not to heed the voice of spirits.” Shukri said, though her face still looked as if she had doubts. “Especially one so obviously connected to the natural world. Perhaps she can guide us where our ancestors have failed.”
The hunting party let Dahlia take the lead, and she moved at a steady pace, seemingly gliding across the ground toward her destination. They seemed to abandon moving stealthily in favor of following the spirit, so Tahir decided to ask Shukri a couple of questions.
“So I couldn’t help but hear you mention something about the voices of spirits.” He said, matching his stride to hers. “Specifically your ancestors. Pardon me for not really knowing anything but, are they a big deal for you?”
Shukri gave him a look that Tahir couldn’t quite place, but answered anyway. “Our ancestors are our guides. They trailed the first paths we walked, settled the Blooming Grove and the Sea of Grass, and even in death continue to watch over us.” She explained. “Our shamans commune with them, hear their voices, and relay their displeasure or gratitude. I’ve heard, occasionally, they’ve even summoned them to speak with us directly. Not unlike the spirit you have with you.”
“Oh, I see.” He remembered Merenthyl mentioning that the nomads also used spirit magic, but definitely not in the way that he did. “Personally, I’ve made a contract with Dahlia and a few other spirits. But it seems like your ancestors, well, linger, for lack of a better word, so they can continue to watch over you.” He noticed that they didn’t seem to have any worship of the gods here, at least not overtly, no grand temples or even shrines that he could see. The nomads revering their ancestors in this way made that make sense to Tahir. If they lingered, watched, spoke, and occasionally acted using their shamans as conduits, they’d leave a much more distinct impression than gods, who more often than not acted through subtlety and proxies. “Do you have an ancestor that you favor in particular?”
Shukri responded almost immediately. “Mikharma; the Huntress. She who slew the great dragon Qordym in the Sea of Grass. It was she who declared ‘to hunt is to live,’ and to honor the hunted by making use of their remains.” As she walked, Shukri adjusted the bone spear on her back. “In her honor we assemble our hunting parties. Rarely do we have so many going out at one time, however. The creatures that crowd around the grove have kept us from leaving for some time, as well. Our ancestors have been silent thus far, so we can only take this as a trial to endure.”
“Do you think the mage’s guild is causing it, by chance?” Tahir asked. He figured now was as good a time as any to get her perspective.
“They are certainly a part of it. Some claim it to be the ruin they’re studying, but the monsters did not appear in great numbers until after they arrived.” Shukri answered. Behind her, Tahir noticed her tail flick back and forth. “But they’ve sent their mages to hunt with us, and they pull their weight for the most part. Some of them have gotten injured, even, and they still continue to join us. Do they simply not care for their lives?”
Tahir opened his mouth to respond, but didn’t get to speak as he nearly ran into Dahlia, who stopped a few away from a riverbank. “Hmm. Here, but not quite.”
“Careful, spirit.” Shukri warned. “Dangerous beasts have been spotted in the waters as well.”
Dahlia looked up and down the river, continuing to search. After a moment, she nodded and began moving upriver, against its flow. She did, at Shukri’s warning, shift back a number of feet. “I believe we’ll find our problem at the source. The river’s flow carries its essence throughout the waters, faintly.”
“The falls, perhaps?” Shukri asked, though Dahlia had already started moving. With a glance back to the rest of the party, she shrugged, and motioned for them to continue to follow. “Keep your eyes on the river. The last thing we need is something lunging out while we’re distracted.”
With that, the hunting party followed Dahlia’s glide. Following in her wake, they had a practically pleasant stroll, with foliage falling away to not impede the diwata’s path, and staying back just long enough to let the others pass unhindered as well. When she finally stopped, they all stood at the edge of a large pond, where a tall waterfall deposited down from cliffs and gathered. Once she stood a few feet from the shore, Dahlia turned with a flourish. “I sense it here, the unnatural source is most likely in this pond somewhere. How well can you swim?”
