Entry 8: 1,000 Years

-Rai-

-Many years after Rai's and Pam's visit to Felkala's Sanctuary-

Ten armed men made their way down an unbeaten path. They had muscular bodies – made obvious with their bare chests and short pants. Their skin was pitch black, and their white, contrasting tattoos only served to enhance their savage mien. As they walked, they resembled beasts stalking prey, as they were silent and went forward with grim purpose.

The only thing out of place was the eleventh man – same tribal tattoos and same racial skin, but a slim build and polished robes, giving him a scholarly look compared to his companions.

Eventually, the 11 men came to a misplaced crack in the ground and stopped. Night soon fell, and they set up camp… waiting for something. Only they knew why they came here for, as they didn't speak to each other.

-Later that night-

Late into the evening, a small figure obscured by the night approached the camp.

Arim, the slim, smart looking one who was keeping watch, stood up in caution with his bronze dagger drawn. "Who's there?" The figure came into full view, and the scholar lowered his sword – dropping his guard. "What's a child doing all the way out here?"

"It's me – Shaman Rai," the 'child' said.

"… Are you sure?" Arim asked incredulously. "Last time I saw you, you were an adult. Did you use some spell to make yourself look younger?"

"No," Rai explained patiently, "I'm not a 4th circle shaman anymore. I have my 5th circle now."

Shaman Kian, the shaman from Arim's own tribe, was only a third circle shaman, so Arim was shocked to know that Shaman Rai was a fifth circle. That's far more powerful than any shaman Arim knew. Shocked at this discovery, Arim nodded and straightened his back with respect. "Shaman Rai. Our Dista Clan hasn't seen a shaman as powerful as you in a long time[HC1] [HC2] !"

"YOUR Dista Clan," Shaman Rai corrected as he sat down next to Aram.

Arim looked Rai up and down, but didn't ask about Rai's unnaturally young age, despite being so old. Instead, he asked Rai, "Now that you're here, do you mind telling me WHY you're here?"

"That's a stupid question, Arim," Rai said, "we're here because there is a library full of enchantments in the vault that I told your Shaman Kian about."

"Yes," Arim said inquiringly, "that's why WE'RE here, but that doesn't explain why you told our clan such important information. Why didn't you just keep the library to yourself? Obviously, you have some other motive…"

"I have my reasons," Shaman Rai said tersely, "and they're personal. Your people don't need to know. In fact, it's better if you don't."

Arim's eyes turned sharp as he interrogated, "There must be something wrong with this place – something a powerful 5th circle shaman like you can't take care of safely. If you can't give me a reason, I'm pulling our warriors back. I don't want to be tricked by a thousand year old fox like you, and I don't want our men to die."

Rai sat back lazily and calmly explained, "There's an enchantment on the door to the place, and you need to have certain qualifications to open it. By virtue of my circumstances, I can't get in the vault, which means I had to get outsiders to bring the things out for me."

"As for our business here," Rai continued, "just make sure you keep your part of the deal. Bring out everything inside the vault. The library is yours. I want everything else."

Of course, the only other thing inside Felkala's Sanctuary is Felkala herself. As long as she's brought outside her Sanctuary…

Arim was feeling excited at the prospects of finding a library full of Soul Script. If he manages to gift it to Shaman Kian, he will definitely be taken in as an apprentice! There isn't a greater honor in the clan.

"Now that you're here, is it time to head down?" Arim sounded calm when he asked this question, but Rai could feel his nervous and excited undertone.

Rai waved his hand dismissively and said, "No need to wake everyone up because of me. I know it was a long journey here. I'm in no hurry now."

Indeed, though Rai had invested too much into finding Feklala again, he had also waited nearly a thousand years for his next meeting with HER. One more night won't make a difference.

The young scholar stammered out nervously, "At least let us go out and prepare something for you to eat…"

"No need, little Arim," Rai said as he rejected once again, "It's business, and we're both getting what we want. You don't need to give me any special treatment."

"I think," the scholar said dryly, "that you just don't want to owe our clan any more favors than you have to."

"That's right, little Arim," Rai said, "I only have one clan and one family, and they died a thousand years ago. My relationship with your Dista clan is, and always will be, purely business."

Arim, the "young" scholar, would normally not tolerate being called "little Arim" by anybody, as he's nearing 40 years old and was a senior member of the clan.

Rai was, however, a talented shaman, and he was who knows how old; that made him one of the only people who could get away with insulting Arim this way.

Exasperated, but not surprised by Rai's distance with his clan, Arim said wistfully, "Such a shame. A talented and young shaman like you should have wealth, privilege, and a new young wife every 20 years. You could have a clan to give you those things. If you just married our chief's daughter-."

"Don't bring that up again!" Rai sharply interrupted. "I won't join your clan that way. I only have one wife, and she died a long time ago."

The conversation had turned confrontational, and they both realized it. So, Rai and Arim sat awkwardly staring at the fire to let the moment cool down.

After a few moments, Arim asked curiously, "Why do you care so much about that woman who lived a thousand years ago? The shamans I know have no problem remarrying when their mortal spouses get old. I mean, she's been dead for so long, so wouldn't a normal person have moved on by now?"

Without saying anything, Rai stared deeply into the fire… but his eyes were not on the fire, and his mind was not in the present.

______________

Despite nearly a thousand years passing, Rai stilled remembered Pam's face clearly. She had never been a beautiful woman, but he remembered that she was seemed to appear twice as beautiful when they learned they were going to be parents for the first time.

It tore Rai's heart out when they lost three children to the clan wars of the time. Even when they escaped, Rai thought that they at least would have a long, long life together with the child she was pregnant with.

The woman was 10 times smarter and more talented than he, and she should've been 10 times the shaman as he, once he had trained her enough in the shaman's ways. She should have still been alive, and they should've spent thousands of years together.

Upon thinking of what came next, Rai's thoughts turned from nostalgic to seething with hate. That beautiful future had died because of that freak underground.

Pam was only trying to help the creature, but it attacked his pregnant wife and hurt the baby. The baby came out dead, and the wife, who was already in poor health after her injury, fell ill from the miscarriage. She was too depressed and didn't take enough food, and she died quietly one night.

Even now, her spirit was haunting Rai. He has been unable to see or talk with her all this time, but he knew she was there, and he knew she carried resentment.

Perhaps, by avenging her with Felkala's life, his wife's spirit might be laid to rest…

______________

Rai snapped out of his thoughts and said in an undertone, "You wouldn't understand. Don't ask about my wife again."

Arim didn't really know what to say to Rai's defensive words, so he shut his mouth and didn't ask anything more on the subject.

-A few minutes later-

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Arim spoke up and brought something up he had been wondering since Rai had arrived here.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Arim asked, "but… I mean, I know you're very old, because you're a shaman, but why do you look so young? I have a 10 year old son, and I swear you look just like him right now. You mentioned earlier that it's because you became a '5th circle shaman' or something. What does that mean?"

Rai laughed softly to himself, "I suppose you wouldn't know, as shamans gaining another circle is rarely seen. Normally, I would only take time telling this to an apprentice, but we have a long wait until your shift ends… and I feel bored."

Instead of going straight into explaining the subject, Rai took a minute to draw on the ground with a stick:

Rai only began his lesson after he finished drawing on the ground. "Everybody has a gateway to their soul, and it looks like THIS," he said as he pointed at the first circle. "People who are 'first circle souls' are normal mortals who don't have powers – like you."

Rai continued, "Once somebody finds the second soul gate and the Name that lets them through, they become a shaman and gain powers. Their body also becomes younger, and they age slower from then on. This happens every time a shaman gets another circle; they get younger, age even slower, and become even more powerful.

"In other words," Arim said in understanding, "you look younger because you upgraded as a shaman?"

"Exactly," Rai confirmed with some pride, "a second-circle shaman can live 300 years or so, but a fifth circle like me can live around 3000 – give or take."

Arim was restless by talking about being a shaman, and he excitedly asked, "I know you have 5 circles – er – soul gates, and I know that's really powerful. How many circles can a person have? Does anybody know?"

"Of course," Rai answered. "There are 8 circles. When a person has 8 circles, they're powerful enough to at least kill millions of warriors at a time. They also stop aging altogether. At that point, they gain access to heavens powers and become ascended gods."

Arim shook his head when Rai said this. "I think 5 circles is the most anybody could have. Eight circles sounds too extreme. I doubt anybody alive has that."

Rai leaned forward and flicked Arim on the forehead. Scowling at the young warrior, Rai said, "Silly. How else would we know that 8 circles is the limit? There are 9 shamans alive on this world with their 8th Circle. They live somewhere to the east. The Amodian empire worships them like gods."

Arim was in a daze when he heard this. He then asked, "Why haven't these gods taken over the Gruul lands before, if they're so powerful?"

Winking at the ignorant Arim, Rai said, "I hear these gods are from another race. From what I've seen of them, they seem to be against using their powers publicly. No idea why."

What Rai didn't mention was that after the shared vision all the shamans and gods had 1000 years ago, the Amodian gods just hid themselves away and stopped interfering with the world so much. Maybe they got scared of what was trying to come out of the Void?

Pausing for a second, Rai then asked, "Any other questions? If not, you can go to sleep. I'll take watch until morning."

-That morning-

The sun rose, and the ten Dista Clan warriors woke. After the initial surprise that Shaman Rai looked like a kid now, they set out the short distance to the hidden "vault". They hadn't camped very far from the underground entrance, so they were there just after waking up.

With his torch lit, Arim studied the door in front of him. The door itself looked like it belonged to a giant, and the dust and decay around it only added to the mystic feeling it gave off. Arim couldn't feel the power and enchantment on the door, but Rai could.

"Shaman Rai," Arim brought up abruptly, "you mentioned last night that you aren't qualified to enter the door. Mind telling me what we should do to go in?"

"You're right, little Arim," Rai said, "There's an enchantment on the door. The Name of the enchantment is 'Dradazewa-Yiirwyn Felkala'. The translation is 'Felkala's Sanctuary'."

"This enchantment is meant to keep Felkala safe." Rai thought to himself, "It makes sense that anybody who has ill intent towards Felkala would be unable to enter. It even obscured my memory of the location of this place. It was so bad that it took me 700 years of wandering the general area just to stumble upon it again. Fortunately, it didn't destroy the map I made afterwards."

Rai didn't want to voice his thoughts, as he was afraid that the Sanctuary would reject the Dista warriors as well. After all, if they knew that they were supposed to bring Felkala out, and that Rai was probably going to kill her, then that would count as "ill intent" on their part – disqualifying them from entry.

"Is that all?" Arim asked?

"Remember that every inch behind this door is a place to protect a person Named 'Felkala' from harm. I'm a shaman with a lot of powers. The enchantment recognizes me as a threat, and it won't let me in." This was gross twist of the truth, but it was better than telling the others that he INTENDED Felkala harm, rather than that he was CAPABLE of harming it.

"Rai," Arim asked grimly, "does that mean we're not a threat? Are we in danger by being here?"

"Of course not! It's been a thousand years, and I doubt this person was still alive. Why do you think I waited this long to come back?"

Arim was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll trust you, Shaman Rai." He then put his hand on the door and pushed.

An eerie grey light familiar to Rai shone in the unlit tunnel, and the doors budged open.

[HC1]Be More consistent with this statement later on – especially in the shaman's moot

[HC2]By the time the shaman's moot happens, there has already been 2 White Fire Explosions. Resources for shamans are more abundant, and there are plenty of powerful shamans then.