Monsoon Rhayne
08-06-2005, 01:33 AM
It was a breezy summer morning, out on the Northern Plains, when three women entered the Tent of Rhayne. One of them was the occupant’s mother; another other wore the feathers and beads of the Tribal Shaman, while the third wore the skull and burgundy robes of the Tribal Blood-Mage. The young mother in the tent receives the elder women and hands the baby boy to his grandmother; they leave the tent and head towards the ceremonial tent in the center of the village. The Shaman, Blood-Mage, Grandmother and Mother circle a shallow pitted fire in the center of the tent. As the Shaman starts’ chanting the Blood-Mage prepares the fire, she spirals in a handful of sand, then the twigs and bark of konkerberry tree, the mother then squeezes breast milk into the fire. The grandmother waves the baby through the smoke as the Shaman shouts the blessings of the Earth Mother and the Ancestors of the Tribe. Then the Grandmother hands the baby to his mother as the shaman reads the smoke. “I see a Bear, your son has gentile strength, contemplation and he is a dreamer; I see also an Alligator, your son will know stealth and survival; and I see the…I see the Wolf, your son will be a teacher of new ideas and wisdom.”
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“Mo-Mo today you start your naming ceremony, come, and see what your father has brought you.” A young Vulmane opened the flap to his family’s tent and entered. Yes, father? “Your father is not here, he’s at the ceremony tent with the village chief, but he left this for you.” What is it mother? “Well open it already; it was here when I awoke, with your name on it.” As Mo-Mo opens the package slowly, his mother gives him a warning glance not to toy with her, she never could stand surprises and this one wasn’t even hers. He opens the box and peers in, his face lights up as he reaches into the box and pulls out a totem on a chain…a wolf over an alligator over a bear. “Oh…that’s very special, what else is in such a large box?” his mother asks. He looks in and pulls out a full suit of tanned leather clothing and some boots. “Wash yourself then we need to head over to the Ceremonial Tent….go.”
They entered the ceremonial tent and it is filled with all of the tribe members, for today is his day, the day he starts his Naming Trials. It is an odd thing to do your naming trial alone, normally several children are born in the summer, but he was the only one of his tribe to be born that summer…there had been plenty during the spring and fall. As he approached the Chief the tent grew quite, so all the whole tribe could hear. “Mo-Mo today you start your journey into manhood, today you will start your tests to see what you have learned as a child…to see if you learned more about being a man or tried to hard to be a child, are you ready Mo-Mo to prove yourself worthy of a name…a mans name…and to shed your childhood name of Mo-Mo?” I am ready to start my journey, to have our ancestors test me, and to earn my name. “Then remove all but your loincloth, your family knife and your totem, and we shall begin.” Mo-Mo undresses and hands his belongings to his mother. “Mo-Mo, these are the things our ancestors would like to see from you. First…the Wolf…go into the land of the High Elves and retrieve and item of Wisdom. Second…the Alligator…travel through the forest and retrieve a fairy-dragon. Third…the Bear…go to the cave between here and the forest and get the chest from the Trolls that dwell within. Remember Mo-Mo each of your totems stands for something, and some of them stand for several. Call to them for guidance when you need it…now be off, and return for the feast in three days...for you will receive your name.”
Mo-Mo travels through the morning and about noon he stops to get a drink from a creek and eat some berries found along the creek, the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he rolls to the ground and back up again into a stance with his hands in the air…I have no wish to do you or your people harm elf, I wish council with one of your priests or elders…if I may though. “Why would a Vulmane seek council with the elves, dark one?” I know not why you call me a dark one; I am merely seeking the wisdom of the elves. “Why should I trust one of your kind?” Why would you not trust me, have I done something to offend, without ever meeting one of your fair peoples? “You may have a point, what do you require of us, so you may be on your way?” I request to learn a bit of Elven wisdom, so I may learn to be a better man. “What is your name, strange one?” the elf says as he approaches. I haven’t a name yet as I am on a trial to determine it as we speak. “A man with no name, you are a strange one, well follow me.” The elf leads him towards the enclave of Leth Nurae, on the way there single birds can be heard all along the way, Mo-Mo deduces they’re the elves passing calls informing the enclave of their new visitor. They are met by five other elves and yet continue onward. As they enter the enclave, Mo-Mo has to remind himself to breath as everything here is very beautiful and nothing like he has ever seen or dreamed of seeing. They reach a building and he is bid to wait outside, a moment later an elderly man comes out to greet him “You are either too ignorant to know better than to come here young one, or wise beyond my reasoning, what is it you come for?” Mo-Mo holds his arm out for a traditional greeting and the elderly elf takes shakes his hand, Mo-Mo releases his hand and grabs his forearm in friendship, indicating that is the way Vulmane greet each other. The elf almost pulled away but didn’t feel threatened. I wish to learn the wisdom of the elves, like how they live so long to obtain much wisdom. “Why would a Vulmane wish to learn about us elves, when in the past you’ve done nothing but attack us without reason?” I’m sure my ancestors had a reason, or at least thought they did, but this is the here and now, can our people not become friends in these dire times? “You are not like your people, at least your ancestors, young one, I have not the time to teach you as of yet…and my peers do not wish to teach you anything. But take this tome, it is in common, and it tells of the elves…it does us no good as we have thousands that tell our histories more precisely than that one ever could. If you wish to learn more, feel free to come back and ask again…perseverance may gain you insight, insight may gain you the knowledge to reach my people…if…and only if, you show yourself to be sincere and to have changed from that of your ancestor, will you gain my trust."
As Mo-Mo leaves the village and heads towards the nearby forest, as he reaches the edge of the woods, thunder claps and it begins to pour. Damn…I better find some shelter and some dinner, then camp for the night. The next morning, after a restless but dream inducing sleep, Mo-Mo gets up and finishes off the nuts and berries from the night before. It is still pouring down rain and he figures he’d better get to his task, rain or no rain. As he broke down his shelter he heard his father’s words echo through his mind “Never stop for the weather, for the weather stops for no one.” As he started off towards the center of the woods he grasped his totem and remembered the Alligator. Hmm…Stealth, maybe there is danger beyond my knowledge in this forest. He proceeded with caution, trying to blend into his surroundings and be heard as little as possible. Throughout the day he saw many things, some he would like to investigate further, some he wished never to come across again…unless he was well prepared that is. Around early afternoon he found a knapsack, he wondered how he seen it as he nearly missed it. Within the backpack was a loaf of nutty bread, a flask of amber liquid and a small jar of water. He drank the water, placed the jar and his book into the pack and slung it over his shoulder. An hour later while trying to sneak around through the forest, he found what he was looking for a fairy-dragon, he didn’t know how he was found out…for he hadn’t made a sound, but the fairy-dragon took flight and headed deeper into the woods. So he had a seat, ate and drank some of the bread and honey wine. A couple hours later he found his prey again, this time he was able to get close enough to grab it by the wings…as he did the fairy-dragon started berating him verbally. “How dare you, who do you, think you are…what do you want with me?” Well, I’m just doing my rite of passage and you’re…hey, you talk? “Well of course I talk, how stupid do you thing dragons are?” Well dragons aren’t stupid, they are very intelligent, but you are a fairy-dragon. “Oh…so now just because I’m small I don’t have a brain?” I never said that. “No but you implied it, by the way are you going to let me go or am I going to have to turn you into a flower?” Hmm…well I’ll tell you what, I will let you go…but you have to promise me you’ll come back to my home with me…then after I finish my rite of passage your free to go…ok? “What if I said no?” Well I do have a jar in my pack that might make a comfy home. “You wouldn’t dare.” I shouldn’t have too; if you are so intelligent you would be a rational being and help me out, at the same time helping yourself out. “Wow…for a non-dragon you make some strong arguments…you have a deal…so let me go.” Mo-Mo lets the fairy-dragon go and it flutters around him. “Do you have anyway to get me out of this rain?” Well you could squeeze into my pack there, it should be dry. “Well let me (muffled as the fairy-dragons mouth is full of nut bread)…I think it’s nice and cozy (mumbles as he drinks some honey wine)…in here, think I’ll take a nap.”
It continues to pour throughout the night, and into the next morning, about mid-morning they get close to where the trolls are supposed to be, Dragon…you know anything about trolls? “I know I like to leave them alone” Well I need to get a chest out of this troll cave up ahead a bit. “Oh…you mean do I know anything about a troll cave around here, well there’s a back door you know, it’s blocked by a boulder though.” Do you know how many trolls there are? “Well…unless one or two died, or one or two gave birth, which is highly” Rough guess? “Oh…now you’ve done it, don’t you know you should never…never interrupt a dragon?” Sorry, but how many roughly? “If I remember correctly…5 or 10…no it’s 5” I don’t even think I want to know what happens when you second guess or ask a dragon if it’s sure. “Good choice (smug smile)” Mo-Mo attempts to scout the surrounding area, and he finds the entrance to the cave…there are exactly 5 trolls inhabiting it and they are all in various stages of sleep, due to the smell inside the cave they obviously are deathly afraid of the rain, or at least try to avoid it when possible. Mo-Mo skirts around the cave trying to determine the depth and expansiveness of it, when he finds the boulder that should comprise the backdoor, he also notices the fairy-dragon is nowhere to be seen and utters a curse under his breath. He then tries to remove the boulder by placing his shoulder and weight into it, it barely budges. So he looks around a bit and finds a stone and a log to use as a lever. As he lays all of his weight onto the log the boulder parts an entrance into the cave. “That’s funny” the dragon laughs rounding the corner. What now, we’re supposed to be quite here now, Mo-Mo whispers. “Why the trolls are all flowers now, mean…angry flowers, but flowers none the less.” Mo-Mo enters the back room of the cavern, finds the chest, lugs it onto his shoulder and head toward the front room to check out the dragons’ handy work, he then hurries out of the cave on towards the village. About a 200 paces out he hears a loud roar and figures he better start running. About noon the rain stops and the clouds start moving out, around mid-afternoon they reach the village.
As the first of the villagers notice Mo-Mo the village drums go off in a ceremonial cadence, all of the tribe members not actively involved in preparing the feast line up to great him. Some of the villagers wonder in awe at the fairy-dragon flying right along side him. He arrives at the ceremony tent and the chief says “How have you shown the Wolf you have wisdom?” Mo-Mo retrieves the book of Elven History from the pack and shows it to the congregation. “How have you shown the Alligator stealth?” I have brought a fairy-dragon back with me, but not as a prisoner, but as a friend. “And how have you shown the Bear strength and contemplation?” I had found a way into the back of the cave instead of the front, and then removed the boulder blocking that entrance with a lever and stone. “Very well, through these deed, you have shown our ancestors you are a man…the Naming Trial is over, Elders…what have the ancestors called this man?”
They call him Monsoon Rhanye.
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“Mo-Mo today you start your naming ceremony, come, and see what your father has brought you.” A young Vulmane opened the flap to his family’s tent and entered. Yes, father? “Your father is not here, he’s at the ceremony tent with the village chief, but he left this for you.” What is it mother? “Well open it already; it was here when I awoke, with your name on it.” As Mo-Mo opens the package slowly, his mother gives him a warning glance not to toy with her, she never could stand surprises and this one wasn’t even hers. He opens the box and peers in, his face lights up as he reaches into the box and pulls out a totem on a chain…a wolf over an alligator over a bear. “Oh…that’s very special, what else is in such a large box?” his mother asks. He looks in and pulls out a full suit of tanned leather clothing and some boots. “Wash yourself then we need to head over to the Ceremonial Tent….go.”
They entered the ceremonial tent and it is filled with all of the tribe members, for today is his day, the day he starts his Naming Trials. It is an odd thing to do your naming trial alone, normally several children are born in the summer, but he was the only one of his tribe to be born that summer…there had been plenty during the spring and fall. As he approached the Chief the tent grew quite, so all the whole tribe could hear. “Mo-Mo today you start your journey into manhood, today you will start your tests to see what you have learned as a child…to see if you learned more about being a man or tried to hard to be a child, are you ready Mo-Mo to prove yourself worthy of a name…a mans name…and to shed your childhood name of Mo-Mo?” I am ready to start my journey, to have our ancestors test me, and to earn my name. “Then remove all but your loincloth, your family knife and your totem, and we shall begin.” Mo-Mo undresses and hands his belongings to his mother. “Mo-Mo, these are the things our ancestors would like to see from you. First…the Wolf…go into the land of the High Elves and retrieve and item of Wisdom. Second…the Alligator…travel through the forest and retrieve a fairy-dragon. Third…the Bear…go to the cave between here and the forest and get the chest from the Trolls that dwell within. Remember Mo-Mo each of your totems stands for something, and some of them stand for several. Call to them for guidance when you need it…now be off, and return for the feast in three days...for you will receive your name.”
Mo-Mo travels through the morning and about noon he stops to get a drink from a creek and eat some berries found along the creek, the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he rolls to the ground and back up again into a stance with his hands in the air…I have no wish to do you or your people harm elf, I wish council with one of your priests or elders…if I may though. “Why would a Vulmane seek council with the elves, dark one?” I know not why you call me a dark one; I am merely seeking the wisdom of the elves. “Why should I trust one of your kind?” Why would you not trust me, have I done something to offend, without ever meeting one of your fair peoples? “You may have a point, what do you require of us, so you may be on your way?” I request to learn a bit of Elven wisdom, so I may learn to be a better man. “What is your name, strange one?” the elf says as he approaches. I haven’t a name yet as I am on a trial to determine it as we speak. “A man with no name, you are a strange one, well follow me.” The elf leads him towards the enclave of Leth Nurae, on the way there single birds can be heard all along the way, Mo-Mo deduces they’re the elves passing calls informing the enclave of their new visitor. They are met by five other elves and yet continue onward. As they enter the enclave, Mo-Mo has to remind himself to breath as everything here is very beautiful and nothing like he has ever seen or dreamed of seeing. They reach a building and he is bid to wait outside, a moment later an elderly man comes out to greet him “You are either too ignorant to know better than to come here young one, or wise beyond my reasoning, what is it you come for?” Mo-Mo holds his arm out for a traditional greeting and the elderly elf takes shakes his hand, Mo-Mo releases his hand and grabs his forearm in friendship, indicating that is the way Vulmane greet each other. The elf almost pulled away but didn’t feel threatened. I wish to learn the wisdom of the elves, like how they live so long to obtain much wisdom. “Why would a Vulmane wish to learn about us elves, when in the past you’ve done nothing but attack us without reason?” I’m sure my ancestors had a reason, or at least thought they did, but this is the here and now, can our people not become friends in these dire times? “You are not like your people, at least your ancestors, young one, I have not the time to teach you as of yet…and my peers do not wish to teach you anything. But take this tome, it is in common, and it tells of the elves…it does us no good as we have thousands that tell our histories more precisely than that one ever could. If you wish to learn more, feel free to come back and ask again…perseverance may gain you insight, insight may gain you the knowledge to reach my people…if…and only if, you show yourself to be sincere and to have changed from that of your ancestor, will you gain my trust."
As Mo-Mo leaves the village and heads towards the nearby forest, as he reaches the edge of the woods, thunder claps and it begins to pour. Damn…I better find some shelter and some dinner, then camp for the night. The next morning, after a restless but dream inducing sleep, Mo-Mo gets up and finishes off the nuts and berries from the night before. It is still pouring down rain and he figures he’d better get to his task, rain or no rain. As he broke down his shelter he heard his father’s words echo through his mind “Never stop for the weather, for the weather stops for no one.” As he started off towards the center of the woods he grasped his totem and remembered the Alligator. Hmm…Stealth, maybe there is danger beyond my knowledge in this forest. He proceeded with caution, trying to blend into his surroundings and be heard as little as possible. Throughout the day he saw many things, some he would like to investigate further, some he wished never to come across again…unless he was well prepared that is. Around early afternoon he found a knapsack, he wondered how he seen it as he nearly missed it. Within the backpack was a loaf of nutty bread, a flask of amber liquid and a small jar of water. He drank the water, placed the jar and his book into the pack and slung it over his shoulder. An hour later while trying to sneak around through the forest, he found what he was looking for a fairy-dragon, he didn’t know how he was found out…for he hadn’t made a sound, but the fairy-dragon took flight and headed deeper into the woods. So he had a seat, ate and drank some of the bread and honey wine. A couple hours later he found his prey again, this time he was able to get close enough to grab it by the wings…as he did the fairy-dragon started berating him verbally. “How dare you, who do you, think you are…what do you want with me?” Well, I’m just doing my rite of passage and you’re…hey, you talk? “Well of course I talk, how stupid do you thing dragons are?” Well dragons aren’t stupid, they are very intelligent, but you are a fairy-dragon. “Oh…so now just because I’m small I don’t have a brain?” I never said that. “No but you implied it, by the way are you going to let me go or am I going to have to turn you into a flower?” Hmm…well I’ll tell you what, I will let you go…but you have to promise me you’ll come back to my home with me…then after I finish my rite of passage your free to go…ok? “What if I said no?” Well I do have a jar in my pack that might make a comfy home. “You wouldn’t dare.” I shouldn’t have too; if you are so intelligent you would be a rational being and help me out, at the same time helping yourself out. “Wow…for a non-dragon you make some strong arguments…you have a deal…so let me go.” Mo-Mo lets the fairy-dragon go and it flutters around him. “Do you have anyway to get me out of this rain?” Well you could squeeze into my pack there, it should be dry. “Well let me (muffled as the fairy-dragons mouth is full of nut bread)…I think it’s nice and cozy (mumbles as he drinks some honey wine)…in here, think I’ll take a nap.”
It continues to pour throughout the night, and into the next morning, about mid-morning they get close to where the trolls are supposed to be, Dragon…you know anything about trolls? “I know I like to leave them alone” Well I need to get a chest out of this troll cave up ahead a bit. “Oh…you mean do I know anything about a troll cave around here, well there’s a back door you know, it’s blocked by a boulder though.” Do you know how many trolls there are? “Well…unless one or two died, or one or two gave birth, which is highly” Rough guess? “Oh…now you’ve done it, don’t you know you should never…never interrupt a dragon?” Sorry, but how many roughly? “If I remember correctly…5 or 10…no it’s 5” I don’t even think I want to know what happens when you second guess or ask a dragon if it’s sure. “Good choice (smug smile)” Mo-Mo attempts to scout the surrounding area, and he finds the entrance to the cave…there are exactly 5 trolls inhabiting it and they are all in various stages of sleep, due to the smell inside the cave they obviously are deathly afraid of the rain, or at least try to avoid it when possible. Mo-Mo skirts around the cave trying to determine the depth and expansiveness of it, when he finds the boulder that should comprise the backdoor, he also notices the fairy-dragon is nowhere to be seen and utters a curse under his breath. He then tries to remove the boulder by placing his shoulder and weight into it, it barely budges. So he looks around a bit and finds a stone and a log to use as a lever. As he lays all of his weight onto the log the boulder parts an entrance into the cave. “That’s funny” the dragon laughs rounding the corner. What now, we’re supposed to be quite here now, Mo-Mo whispers. “Why the trolls are all flowers now, mean…angry flowers, but flowers none the less.” Mo-Mo enters the back room of the cavern, finds the chest, lugs it onto his shoulder and head toward the front room to check out the dragons’ handy work, he then hurries out of the cave on towards the village. About a 200 paces out he hears a loud roar and figures he better start running. About noon the rain stops and the clouds start moving out, around mid-afternoon they reach the village.
As the first of the villagers notice Mo-Mo the village drums go off in a ceremonial cadence, all of the tribe members not actively involved in preparing the feast line up to great him. Some of the villagers wonder in awe at the fairy-dragon flying right along side him. He arrives at the ceremony tent and the chief says “How have you shown the Wolf you have wisdom?” Mo-Mo retrieves the book of Elven History from the pack and shows it to the congregation. “How have you shown the Alligator stealth?” I have brought a fairy-dragon back with me, but not as a prisoner, but as a friend. “And how have you shown the Bear strength and contemplation?” I had found a way into the back of the cave instead of the front, and then removed the boulder blocking that entrance with a lever and stone. “Very well, through these deed, you have shown our ancestors you are a man…the Naming Trial is over, Elders…what have the ancestors called this man?”
They call him Monsoon Rhanye.