“I must warn you, but the chieftain of the Amad is a stickler for tradition.”
ot.
Freezeday, Death Week, Fire Season 1627
After a few days of happy celebration and rest with the citizens of Alone, a rider from Amadhall came with news: the tribal chieftain, Broangian, had invited us to meet with him. This was welcome news, as it furthered our mission of securing allies for Argrath from the Far Point tribes.
With a young Bachad frydsman, Senonil, as a guide, we traveled north, past the hamlet of Ironnail. The well-trodden path from Ironnail wove between the rocky rapeseed covered hills of the Sheep of Luck Hills.
We arrived at the double-palisade hill fort of Amadhall before nightfall. The air was filled with the smell of cooking smoke, though the village seemed extremely quiet. We banged on the gate, and a small troop of thanes and fyrdmen appeared, many bearing clubs instead of swords and wearing lead bells around their ankles. They were lead by the black-haired Finkos Broangian’s Son, who performed the necessary, though slightly peculiar, rites of greeting with us. Once we had boasted, the Amad clapped us on the shoulders in welcome and escorted us to Orlanth’s Hall where the chieftain waited.
Broangian Hendlanth’s Son, chieftain of the Amad, sat upon a harsh chair of blackest granite. His only comfort were several large sheep pelts draped over the back and arms of the chair. Behind him stood three carved totem statues: Orlanth Adventurous (the largest), flanked by Yelmalio and Voriof. Votives to other gods (Ernalda, Barntar, Humakt, and Argan Argar) sat in niches behind those.
They held a feast in our honor, and the meat, bread, butter, and beer flowed freely. We were not, as Senonil had hinted we would be, served any bugs. The Amad invited us to boast and retell how we saved the Children of Alone. We danced and sang with them. They banged out their music on large drums and lead bells. When we were all sweaty, stuffed, and drunk Broangian dismissed everyone but his closest thanes and advisors. The thanes tied the doors and windows of the Temple Hall shut with woolen cords and we got down to business.
Present at the meeting were:
- Broangian gW, chieftain of the Amad, an emotional and massive man of muscle turning to fat with braided salt-and-pepper hair and beard (55, Orlanth Rex);
- Finkos gl, Broangian’s pragmatic eldest son, a spitting, if younger and fitter, image of his father, who will become chieftain when his father dies (30, Orlanth Adventurous);
- Garinfin gj, Broangian’s younger son, a seething hot-headed young man with soft features and a close-trimmed black beard (25, Barntar)
- Esrolsin et, Broangian’s wife, a keen woman who wore a simple green woolen shawl over her head (50, Ernalda)
- Hantarik y,, the tribe’s greybeard (60, Lankhor Mhy)
To our surprise, another man appeared at the meeting. He had been in the hall the entire time, but we had not seen him. His name was Odysestes /. (40, Seven Mothers). He was a Tarshite Lunar envoy sent from Alda-Chur by King Pharandros (who has been bivouacked there since the Battle of the Queens).
One other person came and went from the meeting: the delightfully beautiful and sweet-smelling Hermilla px, who served us water, bread, butter, and salt from her wooden tray. Her hair was woven with willow branches and her green eyes seemed to sparkle like the leaves of a tree in the wind (21, Aldrya). Someone called her a witch and Esrolsin made no effort to hide her dislike of the young and beautiful woman. Broangian seemed quite fond of her.
Odysestes had brought reparations, gold from Dwarf Mine and wine from the king’s cellars in Furthest, to offer to the Amad - an apologia from King Pharandros and Petrad for the pogroms of Harvar. He freely but diplomatically insulted Argrath as the King of Dust who sought to sow rebellion and disorder with his meager rabble of outlaws in Sartar. He was a terrorist, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Dragonrise and the Three Queen Rebellion. He would bring destruction and ruin upon the tribes of Far Point if he was not stopped. Pharandros would stop him and restore the Glowline.
We pointed out that Pharandros had quit the field at the Battle of the Queens. Odysestes responded that the Orlanthi have an old saying “Two from Three is Not Bad” and that Pharandros would deal with “queen” Leika after Argrath was dealt with.
Things became fractious. Garinfin couldn’t restrain his anger any longer and urged his father to throw in with Argrath, although Finkos and Esrolsin plead for more caution. Aeson stood and made a powerful plea on Argrath’s behalf, one that Odysestes failed to refute. Worn down by the back-and-forth and moved by Aeson’s oration, Broangian bitterly admitted that no amount of gold and wine could repay the life and blood loss Harvar caused and the Red Goddess allowed. Then he begged for a moment to take a piss outside to clear his bladder and his head before continuing. We all stepped out into the fresh air to do the same.
A woman’s scream pierced the night. While Broangian had leaned against a wall with his pants down to piss, someone had stabbed him fatally in the back of the neck with a dagger.
A dagger bearing the symbolic boars-head hilt of the Dinacoli.