The Tale of One-Tree, Chapter XII, Part IV - The Depths of Yokté
Though the adventurers were all yearning to return home to One-Tree after their victories this day, William still felt a vague sense of unease, and urged them to make sure their work was truly complete.
Obliging the bokor-chieftain, Samira sent her woldwyrd into the submerged dungeon, examining the site through the construct’s central eye as it silently passed through the still waters below. The site seemed identical to the one under Nemnoc and the one to the east of One-Tree in all respects, including the scores of small, empty niches in its outer walls, which somehow kept reminding William of soul cages.
After Samira had recalled her woldwyrd to the surface again, William suggested waiting till nightfall so they could check if something about the site changed after dark. To pass the time till then, the adventurers also decided to excavate the foundations of another stele despite their weariness, though when these labours were complete at dusk they seemed to have gained nothing more than another mask-covered stone pillar slowly settling into the boggy ground.
Still feeling unsettled, William then began to ponder what would be happening at One-Tree in the meantime, underneath which the adventurers feared a fourth Orgoth site was buried. The bokor-chieftain was wracked with apprehension, all the while realising that it would be impossible for the adventurers to return to One-Tree before another day had passed. Seeing his chieftain’s restlessness, Odrys also tried to assuage his fears by pointing out that chief Rawgash was still at One-Tree, and would provide any leadership they might need, and then got to work setting up camp on one of the larger dry islands rising from the swamp at the edge of the cleansed Orgoth site.
It did not take the adventurers long to find sleep after that day’s labours, though they did not neglect to take turns standing guard. But dusk had only just darkened into deep night when Samira, who had taken first watch, saw Terys suddenly sit bolt upright. The Iosan’s eyes flew open, a brilliant firefly blaze spilling from the orbs, and his jaw hung slack, with more fireflies dancing behind his gaping lips.
Free… a garbled voice issued from Terys’s mouth, a voice that was both unlike his erstwhile toneless speech as well as his as of this day more animated enunciation. Then he sat still again, staring straight ahead.
Quietly, Samira shook her companions awake so they could all bear witness to what was happening, before addressing the Iosan’s still form and repeating the one word he had said – free .
Us, us, us, us, the voice croaked, and then, free.
How can we free you? Samira asked, and then added whether the spirit-fireflies wanted to get freed from the soulless Terys, reasoning he might be a poor host after all.
Empty, the voice replied. William nodded sagely, and explained to the others that if Terys had truly been soulless as he had claimed, the firefly-spirits might be able to use his body to speak, as there was no spirit of Terys’s own that would interfere with them taking over that way. Then William repeated the question of how they could free the spirits.
Tree, Terys mumbled in reply. The adventurers glanced at each other, filled with an even stronger sense of unease as their fears about the threat to One-Tree seemed to have been confirmed.
Struck by a sudden inspiration, William then addressed Terys in Quor-gar, the gatorman tongue, and asked if that language meant anything to him.
Yes, the voice replied in the same language, and then groaned many, everywhere, us, us and us and us.
I promise to free you, William declared.
Yes, the reply came, and then, Hurts. Spikes. Cuts. Hurts. Once again the adventurers shared a glance, now filled with pity as they remembered how the excruciators had stabbed and sliced at the firefly swarms with those strange spears.
Bereft of an idea about what else to ask Terys, and realising that the spirits were still struggling with the concept of language, Samira took the others aside now, and wondered aloud whether any magic hiding the last Orgoth site underneath One-Tree had been disrupted now. Odrys agreed, reasoning that if the steles had protected the three Orgoth sites around One-Tree from detection, those sites might in turn have served to protect the core site, and with all three satellite sites now cleansed, that last veil of concealment might have been lifted now as well.
While the adventurers were discussing this, the scout Juta also chimed in, and asked them what they had been saying to the Iosan, which revealed to the adventurers that no-one but those who had joined themselves to the spirit-fireflies could hear the strange voice Terys was channelling. William nodded reassuringly at the Tharn then, and told her that, as a bokor, it was what he did.
The adventurers went back to their rest, but kept watching Terys for a while, until he slowly slumped backwards onto his pallet and closed his eyes again. The rest of the night passed without further incident, and when the last watch roused the others at dawn, Terys awoke none the wiser about what had happened in the previous night.
After a hasty breakfast, the adventurers broke camp and began a swift but wary march back to One-Tree, with their newly sharpened senses proving even more invaluable in ensuring swift progress than the insight they had gained from their previous joinings already had. Juta in particular again and again found herself nonplussed by the others’ ability to so easily sidestep all the unstable clumps of sodden soil, submerged roots and clinging weeds that kept threatening to trip her up.
All the while they were marching, the adventurers’ minds were still abuzz with questions. William mused aloud what they should do if they found another cage underneath One-Tree, and whether it might be an idea to perform the blood ritual of joining with all the folks of One-Tree. He did also concede that even though spirits were his business, he was wary of the repercussions of binding everybody to One-Tree in this way. Samira then interjected that not everybody was as strong-willed as them, and that there might be unpleasant side-effects to such an extensive joining, like everybody suddenly just mumbling free, free all the time.
William shook his head at Samira’s concerns, and reminded her that Terys was a special case since he had no spirit of his own, so there should not be any negative consequences to the other people from One-Tree. However, Samira was not willing to concede yet, and asked whether anybody would get anything worthwhile if everybody got to drink from the same well. The blackclad’s wisdom was persuasive, and William decided that the next joining, if one should become necessary, should be with Juta in order to maintain a balance among the natives of One-Tree with two joined gatormen and two joined Tharn.
The day had lengthened into afternoon while the adventurers were thus occupied with their thoughts, but as they approached the northern edge of Widower’s Wood, Samira suddenly realised she felt the stirrings of magic ahead, and uttered a warning to her companions. Only moments later, a bank of thick fog began to well up among the trees, with indistinct shapes bearing spears inside and a hulking figure leading them – a hulking figure with lambent green eyes.
Thinking he recognised the shape and the glow, William called out chief Rawgash’s name, and was rewarded by a guttural voice snarling the bokor-chieftain’s name in reply. Then the hulking figure began to shrink as Rawgash surrendered his primal form, while the fog began to dissipate, revealing a crowd of gatormen and Tharn standing behind the grizzled chieftain. The adventurers’ hearts sank as they realised that they not only knew all the faces that were being revealed, but that the entirety of One-Tree was standing before them.
Gloomily, the adventurers received chief Rawgash, as well as an utterly feral-looking former Greylord Oleg Ruskinovich. Rawgash then told them that, shortly past noon on the previous day, strange stone structures covered in scowling masks had suddenly appeared all over One-Tree. Then a blast of freezing cold had blown the door off the hut where the Greylord prisoner had been confined, and Oleg had rushed out, shouting that they had to leave, now, before summoning a concealing fog to cover their escape. Rawgash, too, had roared for everybody to run, and had then led the people of One-Tree south, since that was where he knew the other chieftain, William, had gone. They had not had time to take anything with them than what had been at hand, and Rawgash sorrowfully reported that some had not made it into the concealing cloud, though he did not know what had become of them.
Stricken with worry, rage and regret, the adventurers debated with the two chieftains what to do next. William suggested going to Blake’s Wheel, but Samira counselled against it, and said they should just send a runner to warn the human trading post instead. Odrys proposed going east, but that idea was quickly discarded, as the terrain was much more inhospitable there, and though the open grass steppe would prevent any monsters emerging from underneath One-Tree to sneak up on them, the volcanic activity in the area would make finding enough potable water for an entire village difficult. Nemnoc was also suggested, but going there would mean passing close to One-Tree, and that was a risk that William was not willing to take for the time being.
In the end, those advocating for going to Blake’s Wheel won out, though Samira’s caution that the trading post’s resources would be strained to the limit by such a large group of refugees was also heeded, and it was decided that should still send a runner ahead to announce their arrival so the people of Blake’s Wheel would not think they were going to be attacked.
It was at this point that chief Rawgash further counselled that no mere runner’s words would carry the same weight as the voice of one of the chieftains, though, so the adventurers conceded that it would be up to them to lead the people of One-Tree to Blake’s Wheel. Samira smirked that she hoped they wouldn’t do anything rash when an army of wild folk arrived on their doorstep, but William insisted on the plan, saying that the people of One-Tree would defend Blake’s Wheel, too, if the need arose.
And with that, they turned west, and began leading their weary, hungry and frightened people towards the bank of the Black River.