This Land is My Land

[Chiangtao]

There is no peace in the Cold Wood. Even when there is no war, there is no peace. The forest is harsh, filled with fierce, primal spirits. There is fire, and there is ice; there is prey, and there is hunter. There is storm, and there is snow. And there is death, but never peace.

I know this as truth. I walked these lands. It is the way of things. I am leader of my people: the Wolf tribe. I know the Red Tiger tribe. I know the Uthgardt. I know the snow and the storm and the fire.

One who does not know these ways will die in the Cold Wood. You will be prey to the gods and find your peace in death.

I know the truth. In the Cold Wood, the strong live many days. The strong are the woods. They accept the spirits that bring death, and they become them. To be strong, you must be what kills. To live, you must bring death.

I am Cold Fire. I know the wolf magic. I am the the chosen. I give my people life.

This is my land.

[Chiangtao]

Today I watched a child starve.

We have thrived in the spring and grown fat in the summer. Our winters are hard. There is death in the winter--it is the way of things.

Without the winter, there can be no spring. Without death, there can be no life. We eat the dead, we wear the dead, and we honor the dead. The deer, the bear, and the bebilith--they are the life of the wolf tribe.

This winter will be hard. We are fat. Our women have birthed too many. The Red Tiger have not come this summer, and our warriors are slow. We were too late this fall; the elk moved south before the hunters found them. We have forgotten the way, and we will see many deaths.

[Chiangtao]

Hear me, Cold Woods! Hear me, gods and spirits!

I am Acheela! I am the chosen! I am the life of the Wolf tribe.

Cold Woods, we leave now. We lost the way of the spirits! Our hunts have been poor. We starve in the truth of the winter. We cannot stay.

There are many deaths, but there must too be life. The gods are cruel and wise. Gods of storm and snow, ice and fire, hunter and death, hear me!

I must give my people life! I am the chosen!