Trial of Strength and Honor

[c2k]

Through the cold mountains and forests of the North, a blonde woman adorned with furs and brandishing a giant travelled east. She was headed to her homeland, a place known to the cityfolk as the Savage Frontier, to track down her tribe, the Sky Pony, and speak with a Shaman. Her name, Aliria.

She was lost, confused at what had happened a week before. Nocte had always been truthful to her, for a city dweller anyway. But failing his trial has sent her world in a spiral. She could not kill the dead that walked... each onslaught she made did little to slow their advance and if it wasn't for him, she would have succumbed to it. As she recovered, Nocte told her that her enemy, Bloodmaim, was stronger than the trial she failed and that the only way to gain the strength to defeat such a foe would be to sacrifice the honor she had with her god and her people: to rely on the tricks of the city to defeat her foes.


But would she truly have to sacrifice her honor to tribe and Uthgar in order to complete the Hunt she began what seemed like months ago? Would it be a lack of Strength to uphold her honor and end her Hunt unfinished? The polarity of these questions tore her spirit asunder.


Each step the Sky Pony took away from the region known as the Sundered Valley, her axe scolded her, telling her to return to her Hunt they have been on for many moons now. She had been aware that it lacked the honor she possessed, but she knew it was the risk of gaining a strong ally who shared with her a common enemy. An enemy she wished genocide upon.

And what would Oso, the Bear Spirit, think of Aliria's lack of resolve. She had once been strong enough to be his vessel during a grim time. But now Aliria was on the verge of being broken in mind and spirit, a sign of defeat. A sign of weakness. Perhaps she has failed in it's eyes as well.

The cold has made this trip a conflict physically as well. Snow was common and at times made travelling the terrain very difficult. But Aliria was used to such conditions, aware of Auril's curse upon her homeland. But this would mean the tribes would gather at Beorunna's Well as opposed to being scattered across the North. It would be only a matter of days before she arrived there and hopefully find answers.

[c2k]

Aliria arrived at Beorunna's Well at dusk. Camps were littered around the Ancestral Mound, tribes from all over congregating. There was the Black Lion, who she felt was weak for turning toward the Triumvirate of the city. The Red Tiger who she respected for their strong beliefs in ways of Uthgar. And then she came upon her tribe, the Sky Pony, noticeable by the steeds that were hitched up around the campsite.

As she walksed through the camp, she was greeted by her cousins. It seemed much was unchanged, but much had changed. There was Bran.. but a child when she left, he was now a strong young man who had just completed his Rite. She met her friend Lana, who was now married to Kulath with a baby boy. It had been years since they had seen each other and they began to catch up for a bit. They spoke of there trials and adventures, during which Aliria began feeling distant and out of place.

She had lived in the Viridale of the Sundered Valley for a long time. While the faces here were familiar, they were also strange to her. Had she herself changed that much? She was almost anxious as to what the Shaman would tell her. Would she be strong enough, in her time of weakness, to handle the encounter?

A large fire was burning in front of the Shaman's tent. She approached with respect and caution. As she knelt down before him, she awaited for the wise elder to speak...