Chapter 15

Shi Hou and evening Rabbit made their way south along the Eastern Bank of the Grey River for six days, traversing the steppelands and then marshlands that ran from Nexus down to Onehill, a small town of perhaps fifteen thousand people. Onehill was named as such because it sat on the slopes of a single, large, hill that jutted out of the marshlands south of the Nexus Steppe. A well-constructed, thaumaturgically-enhanced, yet still wooden, stockade wall protected the above-sea-level parts of the town, while the whole town was fronted to the north and west sides by a bend in the Grey River and on the south by treacherous marshland with but a few embankments that enclosed agricultural land jutting out from the marshes. The only true entrance to Onehill by land was via the east, where a neck ditch with sluice gates that could be opened to turn the town into an island in times of strife, along with a wooden gatehouse guarded the entry.

Such fortifications were a necessity in a small town along this stretch of the Grey River, as River Pirates were common this far south. It was outside of the River Patrol range of the Nexus River Flotilla, which would only sail south of the city for two days' worth of sailing, which would take four days on foot as Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit were traveling. From Onehill, it would take them roughly another four days on foot to reach the bend in the Grey River and Trouthome and another two days after that to reach the Marukan Redoubt, where they would once again be under the protection of a river flotilla of the Confederation of Rivers.

This stretch of the Grey River between the Marukan Redoubt at Nexus was one of the main reasons why no one braved the stretch of the Grey River north of Varsi by foot and always traveled by riverboat. Of course, that wasn't the only danger to keep an eye out for, but River Dragons and other such beasts tended to shy away from populations that were large enough to slay them through sheer number of projectiles and the Undead that formed the forces of the Ebon Spyres of Pyrron couldn't stray very far from the Spires themselves for fear of Great Forks going in and cleansing their Shadowland while they were out on the expedition.

Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit stopped for the night in Onehill to rest. They took rooms at the Watery Mole, a Tavern in the low town where the vast majority of the population resided. Only the Lord of Onehill, a man named Lord Szymon Bartocki, and his closest supporters lived in the fortified section on the top of the hill, while the middle level of the hill was largely reserved for members of the five-scale-strong Guard Force, respected craftsmen, healers, and other such worthies.

"Two Ales, please." Ordered Shi Hou, as he bellied up to the bar.

"Coming right up." Nodded the Barkeep, a portly older man with a mustache styled the way both the Plains People and the Varsiyags tended to style theirs, but with skin that was more of the color that you would expect from a Nexusite Native.

As Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit sat down, they marveled at the sight of the town. True, the mix of Varsiyag, Plains People, and Nexusite tended to occur in the smaller, independent, towns along the Grey River, but normally the local culture either leaned heavily one way or did something else entirely. Trouthome was an example of the latter, while Jerzy Town was an example of the former, a Plains Person Culture town south of Varsi that had a mixed population of Varsiyags, Plains People, and some of the Tribes of the Jungle that migrated north after being pushed out of their homelands by the expanding might of Harborhead. Onehill was very different though. Not only did they embrace trade like Nexus, but were hardy folk with an emphasis on hard work like the Plains People while also maintaining a strong martial tradition like the Varsiyags. It was as if someone had carefully crafted a fusion of all three cultures instead of allowing things to develop normally.

As the Barkeep came back with the ales, he seemed to have a grin on his face as he said, "Bit of a Culture Shock, aye?"

"How'd you guess?" Questioned Shi Hou.

"Seen it before. Onehill doesn't fit the same mold that places like Trouthome or Tulgadan do. Heard it's the same south of the Varsiyags too. There's a reason for that if you've got the time to hear a tale." Grinned the Barkeep.

"Do tell." Insisted Evening Rabbit.

"Rabbit? Are you sure?" Queried Shi Hou.

"We're not in a time crunch now, Monkey. Not like we were earlier. Besides, I enjoy listening to interesting stories." Nodded Evening Rabbit.

"How long is this tale?" Asked Shi Hou.

"Not too long. You were planning to stay the night, aye?" Responded the Barkeep.

"See, Monkey? Learn to relax a bit." Intoned Evening Rabbit.

"Fine. Let's hear it." Sighed Shi Hou.

The tale that was spun by the Barkeep was one of hard work and ingenuity, making a tiny village of barely more than a few dozen families grow into a thriving trade center, then using martial prowess and sacrifice for the greater good to keep that trade center when someone else came by with an army to conquer it.

Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit listened intently as the Barkeep told his tale, sipping ale and passing the time. . .

XXXX

You see, as a consequence of being surrounded on multiple sides by marshland and rivers, you would think that Onehill would be a place ill-equipped to hold such a population. Surely, with how little arable land there was in the town's surroundings, there wouldn't be enough food to go around. Surely, there was nothing that could be gathered from the marshlands that was worth trading for food, and the small section of docks that jutted out into the river to the north mostly had fishing boats in its jetties at any rate. Surely there couldn't be enough fish to feed a population this large, right?

You would be wrong on multiple counts, for it had been Lord Szymon's ancestor, a member of the Plains People who had come to what had previously been a small village far removed from the main area of Plains People Settlement, insignificant enough that even the Varsiyags hadn't bothered conquering it while the Guild had scarcely given it a second glance as a trading post, and completely revolutionized the local economy. Lord Szymon's Ancestor had been a thaumaturge and had put into practice a bit of dowsing. What he found was that the marshes south of Onehill contained vast amounts of bog iron and sulfur, both of which could be enriched with thaumaturgical rituals which continued to be practiced by the Craftsman of Onehill to this day.

It had been this that skyrocketed development. Bog Iron was brought into Onehill, thaumaturgically transformed into a higher grade of ore, and then smelted down into tools, weapons, and armor. Sulfur was brought into the town in buckets, thaumaturgically transformed into alchemical-grade Sulfur, and then sold on in the Markets of Varsi, Nexus, Puyo, Marukan, and a dozen smaller places besides. Soon, the small village of a few dozen families had grown into a village of over three thousand people. By the time that Lord Szymon's ancestor died, and Lord Szymon's great-grandfather, Lord Jakob took power, that village had turned into a walled town of eight thousand.

This strained the local food supply, but Lord Jakob had married an Engineer from Nexus, Lady Fuji whose family had come from Lookshy to Nexus in order to better facilitate trade between Nexus and Lookshy. Lady Fuji came up with a simple solution for the food shortage. Polders, earth, and wood dikes to reclaim farmland from the marshes. These polders were painstakingly dug over five years under Lady Fuji's supervision, but once they were, between the bounty of the River, food brought in by trade, and the Polders Onehill could support three times as many mouths.

And of course, with such prosperity came a need to defend it. The Guard Force was to be doubled every two years until the number of men under arms reached capacity. The Guards were armed in Excellent Quality Lamellar Armor and given Excellent Quality slashing Swords, Shields, Bows, and Spears. This guard force would be put to the test when a Varisyag would-be conqueror decided to extend His Dominion to the Grey River from his base in Peshmi a day and a half's ride east of the 'elbow' of the bend in the Grey River.

His riders rode out to conquer Tulgadan on the 'Elbow' of the Bend in the Grey River, careful to avoid the Western Bank so as not to force the Marukani to get involved. Tulgadan put up a brief fight but could not stand against such an opponent. They were forced to submit, as was Trouthome further north and Stanisgorod as well. Heronperch, with its watchtowers and brick walls, thought that they were safe. They were proven wrong when the would-be River Sultan destroyed their towers and broke open their walls with a display of essence, for the River Sultan was enlightened and capable of such feats. He was not the only one to be so, however.

Lord Jakob's son, Lord Boyan, took his father's army to battle against the would-be River Sultan at the Red Marsh, for he too was enlightened thanks to the thaumaturgy so prevalent in Onehill. The armies clashed and in the battle, Lord Boyan slew the would-be River Sultan, panicking the River Sultan's men and allowing his forces to break what had been a stalemate of a battle and turn the enemy retreat into a rout. Lord Boyan the Brave returned with victory and the plunder of the River Sultan's camp, including his sister, Lady Azra, who he took as his wife. In the aftermath of the Battle of the Red Marsh, Lord Boyan began to promote guard officers who had shown merit over ones with connections, as was the Varsiyag Custom, a custom which has allowed Onehill to maintain a powerful guard force to this day.

It was under Lord Boyan, that the current policy of careful cultural maintenance was put into place. The Culture of Onehill had benefited from Plains People Ingenuity and Work Ethic, Nexusite Commercial and Engineering Savvy, and Varsiyag Martial Tradition. It was deemed best that such a balance continue. Lord Boyan's son, Lord Arkady continued this policy, even as the population of Onehill swelled to fifteen thousand by the end of his reign. Now, Lord Szymon continues it as well.

Three Generations of Lords have championed the careful amalgamation of cultures that have made Onehill first among equals of the Independent Northern Grey River Towns. The next largest town in population was Peshmi, at twelve thousand people, and they weren't even close to as wealthy as Onehill. The next wealthiest was Tulgadan, and they could only boast ten thousand people, while the next most successful in battle was Trouthome, which only had eight thousand people and half the wealth that Onehill did.

The entire independent stretch of the Northern Grey River could boast perhaps eighty thousand people living there in various small towns and villages, and Onehill had a bit over of fifth of them in its environs while also containing perhaps a third of the wealth in tradable goods. It certainly boasted the most fighting strength, being capable of fighting off entire pirate bands on their own instead of having to form tenuous alliances with their nearest neighbors.

And that was why Onehill maintained such an oddly curated cultural fusion. . .

XXXX

By the time the Barkeep finished his tale, the sun had fully set for an hour. Shi Hou couldn't help but feel like their time might have been better served purchasing supplies while the daylight had lasted, but he couldn't deny that knowing about the locals was a valuable thing in and of itself. If Onehill truly did have that level of power, then it wouldn't be hard for it to consolidate the independent towns along the Northern Stretch of the Grey River under its banner. It apparently had the wealth, population, and military power to launch a series of campaigns to do so. If the tale was true, Onehill might even succeed at those campaigns.

The problem was that in doing so, it would invite Nexus to swoop in and seize control in a campaign to quash a potential rival before it could get off the ground, even if Nexus was many times larger and more powerful than such a polity would be. That was likely the reason that Onehill hadn't done so already, now that he thought about it. And Nexus wasn't the only potential threat. Varsi and her vassals could boast twice the population numbers of any potential Northern Grey River Kingdom, and were wealthier and had more military power to boot. Puyo could boast more population, wealth, and military power as well, and if it succeeded in unifying the Plains People would rival Varsi and her vassals for Population, wealth, and military power. If all three were to attempt to quash a rival at once? The results would be nothing short of utter catastrophe for any hypothetical Northern Grey River Kingdom.

"Fascinating. What of your City God? Surely a town this well-entrenched has one?" Questioned Evening Rabbit.

And then, of course, there were those for whom such considerations simply did not enter into things. Shi Hou supposed that unless the situation dealt with Thorns, his charge wasn't exactly the sort of person to think about politics regularly. Not unless forced to.

"City Goddess. The Bountiful Woman of the Marsh is who we revere here in Onehill because the Marsh gives so much to us. Her temple is the only structure of Civic Import in the Low Town, naturally, it butts up against the south wall." Answered the Barkeep.

"I wish I'd brought a brush and inkstone. This is all fascinating and I doubt anyone has bothered to record it outside of this stretch of the Grey River." Bemoaned Evening Rabbit.

"You'll have to excuse Rabbit. She only recently left her academic life of privilege and sometimes her curiosity gets the better of her." Apologized Shi Hou.

"What? Monkey, why are you apologizing?" Blinked Evening Rabbit.

"Rabbit, there are major universities all over the Scavenger Lands, in Lookshy, in Nexus, in Sijian, Great Forks, and Thorns. if people haven't recorded a religion this close to a major institution like the one in Nexus, it's probably because asking about it is rude or something." Chided Shi Hou.

"Oh. I hadn't thought about it like that." Frowned Evening Rabbit.

"No worries. It's not that there's anything rude about asking, per se. It's more like most of those fancy Scholars don't much care about the doings of us here in Pirate Country. Even those of us who aren't River Pirates." Waved off the Barkeep.

"Well, they should. If your estimates of population sizes are right, this stretch of river would be just a bit less populated than the Marukan Alliance is, with a commensurate amount of wealth and military power. That's not nothing." Pointed out Evening Rabbit.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, though Her Ladyship of the Marsh might thank you for the concern." Brushed off the Barkeep.

"At any rate, we'll be wanting rooms for the night and whatever the house specialty is for food." Intoned Shi Hou.

"That'd be marsh-fowl and mushroom stew, served with good bread. With the rooms, that'll be fourteen dinars for a two-bed room. Unless the two of you are comfortable sleeping in the same bed?" Trailed off the Barkeep.

"No. Two beds is fine." Intoned Shi Hou, on seeing Evening Rabbit's face redden at the insinuation.

He fished out sixteen dinars from their travel pack and passed them along to the barkeep, who bit into one as if to test for silver plating before nodding.

"Can't be too careful with all the River Pirates running around these days. Name's Kostek, Kostek Kol, just call for me if you might want anything. Your stew will be up in a few minutes." Nodded the Barkeep, turning away to tend to the kitchen behind the bar.

Shi Hou nodded back and sipped his ale. It was good stuff, malty with a rye taste and a bit of added spice. It was almost like someone had taken the Kvass served by the Planar People and added spices while brewing. Nothing fancy, mind you. Something like Cloves or Cinnamon would be too expensive for ale to be served at an inn in the Low Town of Onehill, but a hint of caraway and cumin. The sort of stuff the Varsiyags sold up the river to Nexus by the literal boatfull. As the stew was brought out, however, Shi Hou tucked in, forgetting about the placement of spices in the ale and just enjoying some decent food after spending so long with just whatever they could hunt and fish along the river to eat. As he did, he noticed that Evening Rabbit hadn't stopped blushing from Kostek Kol's earlier comment.

He might have to have a talk with her about that soon. . .

XXXX

They had been tracking the Girl and her Bodyguard for days through this trackless backwater of a marsh. Cathak Sen wasn't the most patient of Dynasts in the best of times, it wasn't in his nature as a Fire Aspect, but he had learned patience in his time as leader of his Brotherhood. He could hardly avoid doing so, with a Mnemnon acting as his second, though Chen at least knew to go from the immovable mountain to the thundering rockslide when necessary.

Even still, this Half-Caste Lunar Anathema they had for a guide hadn't exactly been too impressive when she'd first been foisted off on them by that Old Fool Johoda. For a brief span of time, at the beginning of their hunt, Sen had been tempted to believe the Old Air Caste had been dismissed from Imperial Service based on incompetence if this was the sort of guide that he assigned them. After all, her very name implied she was of low birth. Why else would anyone have a family name like that?

It had been Mei, their resident Tepet Air Aspect Scholar who clued him into the fact that No-Clan was an appellation taken upon themselves by the Delzahn Barbarians when they forsook their families to go renegade. Sen had been about to argue the point until Mei had put said defection in a more positive light. Apparently, the Delzahn were extremely misogynistic as a culture, even when it came to Half-Caste Anathema or other women who could slay Delzahn Tribesman as easily as breathing. It had taken a brief query to learn that yes, Ziva had been treated badly by her clan, and she had killed several members to escape said treatment.

Put like that, Sen could hardly blame her. Even if it had resulted in her Anathema blood getting the better of her, at least her anger had been taken out on those who deserved it. Still, if not for the fact that Ziva was a better tracker than even their Cynis Scout, Juri with all her Wood Caste Charms could be. With a trail this cold and covered in water to boot, even Juri couldn't pick it up again.

It had been Ziva who had found the trail leading through the marshy terrain along the Grey River south of the Nexus Steppe. She had done so via the simple expedient of questioning the local marsh population of amphibians. It hadn't taken them long for her to find one that could point them in the right direction. That had been seven days ago now, and at the start and end of each day, Ziva spent an hour or two summoning and questioning the local fauna to ensure they remained on the right track.

Now she was doing so once again summoning frogs, fish, small mammals, and birds to ask them all where the Girl and her Bodyguard had gone off to. Sen found something ironic in the fact that they were using the child of one Anathema to track down a second Anathema. Oh certainly, Johoda had said that there was no confirmation that the Girl was an Anathema, or that her Bodyguard was anything other than what the Guild Mercenary Register claimed, that being a particularly talented Godblood. Sen didn't believe a lick of it.

The product of a proscribed union of a Spirit and Mortal, even of a powerful spirit, could never have gotten powerful enough to take out Ling without some form of help from an Anathema. That just doesn't happen. Now, not only had the pair slipped Johoda's net, but had led them on a merry chase they only had a shot at keeping up during through the use of another Anathema-based power? Not a chance. Ling may have been the youngest and weakest of their Brotherhood, but she was still a fully accredited Master of the Falling Rain style of Terrestrial Martial Arts with the power of the Peleps Bloodline behind her. That plus her group of followers as a distraction should have been enough to take out a single Godblood and a Mortal Thaumaturge.

"What are you thinking?" Rumbled Chen from nearby.

"He's thinking that no mere Godblood could have done all this on his own. Even with the aid of a Mortal Thaumaturge, there are limits to the power a Godblood may wield without being scoured off the face of creation by the Wrath of the Immaculate Dragons. I agree with that assessment. Even powerful products of the Proscribed Union of Spirit and Mortal are only barely more powerful than any single one of us, and those tend to be rare indeed." Guessed Mei.

"You think the Girl is an Anathema." Stated Juri, matter-of-factly.

"She would almost have to be for this sort of thing to have occurred. Unless Ling got unlucky somehow or Johoda is an even bigger fool than I think he is." Nodded Sen.

"Ling wasn't the type to trust to luck when preparation would do. Why trust that the waves won't turn rough when you could prepare for rough seas ahead of a long voyage? I don't believe Johoda is a fool either. He was too professional, too centered for anything erratic to come from his mind." Insisted Mei.

"What would he gain from keeping that information back, though? He does want this problem dealt with, yes?" Grunted Chen.

"Maybe he's not as cautious of the Anathema as he is of our intentions. After all, who's to say we'll stop at dealing with this Anathema and her pet Godblood? Another Realm Satrapy in the Scavenger Lands is exactly the sort of thing that would be bad for the Confederation of Rivers, and thus, for Nexus. Maybe he's hoping we'll underestimate the Girl and wind up killing each other in the fighting?" Huffed Juri.

"Feh! Then we'll just have to prove ourselves not as easily dealt with. The Confederation of Rivers is just a thorn in the Realm's side. If the Empress truly wanted, she would be more than capable of pruning such a thorn!" Scowled Sen.

"The Legions have other commitments. They can only commit so many resources to wiping out the Confederation, Sen." Pointed out Chen.

"The Barracuda Principle." Nodded Mei.

"Why's it called that?" Queried Sen.

"Because while you're dealing with the smaller fish, the Siaka creeps up behind you to bite you in half." Snorted Juri.

"Just so." Agreed Mei.

"They've gone to Onehill." Came Ziva No-Clan's Voice.

"Onehill?" Asked Chen.

"A small town on a hill, the largest one on this stretch of River until the Marukan Redoubt. It's a half day's travel on foot from here." Answered Ziva No-Clan.

"Then we head to Onehill." Ordered Sen.

They began breaking camp then, packing up the various bedrolls, tents, and whatnot. It took them around five minutes to get everything squared away for the trip to Onehill. Once that was done, the Circle of Furious Elements followed their half-Anathema Guide to Onehill where they would engage this other Anathema and her Pet Godblood. When they did, they would crush them and in so doing gain revenge for Ling's death.

So swore Cathak Sen. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we get a bit of background on Onehill, its history, its people, and that of the region in general, along with the setup for the showdown between the Circle of Furious Elements and Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit. I promise the setting stuff is going somewhere, you'll just have to be patient while I get everything set up.

Of course, the Circle of Furious Elements figuring out that Evening Rabbit is a Celestial Exalt, though they as yet don't know what sort of 'Anathema' she is, means that if they get their shit rocked, they're likely to call for Immaculate Backup. There's only so much that even a literally hot-blooded Dragonblood like Cathak Sen can push a personal grudge before it becomes considered dereliction of duty to not call in the Immaculates to help out, after all.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve a fight at Onehill between the Circle of Furious Elements and Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit.

Stay tuned. . .