The Night-Walkers, Population 48 (23 in Khlin, 15 in Imlona, 10 in Kaaba)
Age of the Awoken Darkness, The Deadened Flame
Techs: Trapping (3/3) DONE
Stone Tools (the idea came from Haixun's visit to the Society) (1/5)
KaabaThe village of Kaaba was quiet, with many of the workers sleeping. Kiebal, on the other hand, had an experiment to play out before she would get any rest. Her prior experiment with traps had been somewhat successful, but this could protect the Walkers who would work on the ground, along with the benefits that would come with food without the need of a guard to finish the beast off. This trap had taken many hours to construct, consisting of a bowstring hidden at foot level in a small area connected to several arrows held by individual strings. If anything breaks the string at foot level, the strings holding the arrows will be released, firing a volley at the creature. Waiting and waiting, Kiebal began to doze off until around the time when the flame was highest in the sky. At that time, she saw two small figures climbing the Heart-Tree. Upon closer inspection, she was startled to find that those two figures were Estrella and Lunas. Kiebal jumped from her position of watching and climbed to the young Walkers as fast as she could.
Upon chasing down the twins, Kiebal began trying to ask what they thought they were doing, climbing at this hour. She stopped talking when they turned. Their eyes were fierce, seeming to glow with total blackness, consuming the light around them. Lunas stood up and spoke, "This is a day of life and death. The spirits are with us this day, for the end of a cycle..." Kiebal was frozen to the spot, the two pairs of intense eyes seemed to see into her very soul. The end of a cycle, Lunas had said. After a a few moment, Estrella added, "The end of one cycle, the beginning of a new one. We were born into a race that had hidden itself from the world, we shall no longer sit and hide."
Awestruck by the intensity and seriousness of these two Walkers, she was silent for a time. A small cracking sound was heard on the ground, followed by the screech of a beast, shot by Kiebal's trap. The rest of the village began to wake after the animal's yell. Trying to get an idea of what was happening, they saw Kiebal and the twins staring into the sky. There were some murmurs of confusion. What could they possibly be doing up there when the sky is lit by the Flame. Travelling up the Heart-Tree, they saw something was wrong. There was no light protruding from the few breaks in the leaves. They had found the sky black, the flame consumed with waters of darkness. The twins rose above the village, commanding an uncommon level of respect, especially being barely more than children in age. They told the tribe that the holy moon had given a sign. The Walkers shall rise, and need not hide from the world ever again. "The moon has consumed the flame," Estrella had said, "So we will defeat any foe that stands against us." During Estrella's speech, Lunas took an arrowhead and carved an image of the eclipse onto the Heart-Tree. "We are the moon, we are the darkness, and we are the Walkers of the Night! This will be our symbol forevermore. In Haixun's journeys and beyond, may none be so foolish as to cross us."
These two Night Walkers were no longer children in the village, this speech had shown all who held their doubts of the twins' divinity of the truth behind these claims. After the flame and moon separated to begin the cycle of day and night once more, the dead creature's carcass was carried off and butchered for a feast that would commence that evening. The seriousness that came over the twins seemed to die down after the speech, and they seemed to become rather playful as the village went back to rest. That night, as the feast began, Kiebal stared at the two exceptional children, trapped in her thoughts. "The moon has very peculiar children," she thought to herself.
The village spent the night celebrating the events of the day, with the "Holy Twins" socializing with the other villagers. It would not be long before the other villages would hear of the twins' speech, and of the symbol that was carved into the Heart-Tree. During all of this, Haixun and his scouts have been finishing their travel home to Khlin, carrying the Society's "Hims".
