The Lovers and the Snake Shaman
- By Raven Blackwood, Rooster Bard

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This tale is from back before the magic of the Scourge finally weakened, before the City of Tiangchou was livable again.

When the tribes first proposed to have a council every seven years, the various leaders were
understandably uneasy about security and only sent deputies and bodyguards.  But as the councils became a regular, accepted custom among the tribes near fallen Tiangchou, the leaders became bolder and they themselves went to the council.  Then, as relations stabilized and a relative peace settled over the tribes, they started to become serious about trading amongst each other and the leaders' various retinues at the councils became even larger, adding merchants and artisans as well as those who would be married off to other tribes, all further cementing alliances.  Even the Snake tribe's Shaman brought things to trade, but very few of his merchants came with him.

At one such council, there was a Rooster artisan family, the Fujimaras, who spun the finest silk of all the silk weavers.  Khal Dalgar, the Khan of the Horse tribe, and his family were browsing the wares of the Rooster trading contingent when eyes met and love bloomed.  The Khan's daughter, Solango, she of the night-black hair and grey eyes, and Ichiro Fujimara, eldest son and a weaver apprentice, had fallen in love with each other.  Over the following days of the council, this love only deepened in the scant few times they could meet.

When the council was ending, and the leaders asked if any tribe members would like to change tribes, both of the young lovers begged their fathers' permission to go with the other.  Both fathers, however, did not wish their child to go in this way.  Indeed, both had plans to arrange marriages within their own tribes. The Khan wished to tie his nomadic tribe together a little tighter by sending his daughter to a far-flung clan's camp to marry a clan leader, Gan Qadan, hoping that he can influence that clan through her.  And Tenchi Fujimara, patriarch of his family, wanted his son to marry another weaving family, the Dosheis, thus adding that family's creative talent to the Fujimara weaving empire.

So the young lovers' wishes went unheeded.  But they promised each other to find time and excuses to meet somehow.  Each vowed to find a way to make their fathers see that this was a good match for their tribes.

They snuck away at agreed-upon phases of Telgard's moons, when Dargotten's Eye was high and full in the night sky, meeting at the deserted, dusty walls outside the ruins that was once the glory of pre-Scourge Tiangchou.  Solango would come on her swift grey horse, and Ichiro on his beautiful black one.  They would stay and talk together as long as they dared, then rush back to their families.

One day Solango did not show up at the prearranged time.  Both had been resisting the entreaties of their respective fathers to enter into the marriages that had been arranged, and both feared that each meeting would be their last, that one or the other would be married off within the next moon phase.  So Ichiro assumed that Solango had been finally married to Gan Qadar of the far clan.  But he held out hope and came back at the same phase each month until finally he gave up.

Yet Ichiro could not put his heart into the arranged marriage his father envisioned and kept refusing to agree to it.  His father, Tenchi, realized that an unhappy husband makes for an unhappy family in marriage, so the senior Fujimara found a more willing husband in Ichiro's younger brother and did not bother Ichiro with other offers of marriage.

The next council time arrived.  Ichiro eagerly agreed to go along as one of the representatives of the Fujimara family at the trading phase of the council, hoping that Solango would be there and that she could explain what happened to her.

However, Solango wasn't there.at all.  Many Horse tribe clan leaders and their wives and families were there, but not Solango.  Ichiro did notice that Khal Dalgar looked sad somehow.  Over the silks, the Khan's eyes met Ichiro's, and the looks that passed between them spoke volumes.  Ichiro realized that Solango was missing, and the Khan knew it, but had assumed that she had run off with Ichiro, only to be severely disappointed when she wasn't there at all during this council.

Neither man could face each other long enough to confirm their worst fears for Solango.  There are some things even a Khan has a hard time confronting.

Shortly after the council disbanded, Ichiro found himself wandering along alone on his black horse, still deeply missing Solango.

At a pond that was untouched by the Scourge poison, Ichiro let his horse drink.  In the distance, another horse approached the pond, grey with black mane and tail, and lacking any saddle or bridle.  Ichiro recognized the fine, sturdy lines of the Horse tribe breed, and waited paitently for it to approach, hoping to capture it and bring home the wild horse for Rooster use.  He fashioned a lasso in preparation for his task.

But the horse was spooked somehow and shied away.  Ichiro spurred his own horse on, and galloped after the grey horse.  The two horses ran on over several hills, Ichiro slowly gaining on the wild horse.

Then something strange happened.  The grey horse swivled one eye back at the approaching black one, and suddenly stopped, its flanks heaving with the exertion, but by no means exhausted.

Ichiro did not stop to wonder why, and slipped the rope around the grey horse's neck.  The black-maned horse did not resist, even when Ichiro walked it towards home.

As he headed home with his prize, Ichiro thought he heard Solango's voice saying, "Ichiro . . . help me . .."  Ichiro whipped around, only to see nothing but the black horse under him and the black-maned wild grey horse.

Again, he heard, "Ichiro . . . help . . . "

Again, he looked and saw nothing that looked like his missing lover.  He yelled out, "Solango!!!  Where are you!!!"

Once more, he heard, "Ichiro . . . spell . . . turned into horse.'"

Ichiro then looked at the wild grey horse by his side, the one that so readily let him capture it.  The eyes were grey, unusual color for a horse, even a grey one, and a shade resembling that of his lost lover's eyes. And that was when he knew the equine was his lover, however enchanted.

Immediately, Ichiro jumped off his horse and hugged the grey one by his side.  "Solango!  What happened?" he asked.

In halting words, she told her story:

Khan Dalgar did finally convince Solango to marry, and she went far away to Gan Qadar's camp.  But her heart wasn't in it, and she pined away for Ichiro.  So she did the only thing she could do:  Run away to him.

When she set out on her journey, the portents of the moons were mixed.  The night sky was clear, revealing that  Shadoweye was out and high in the sky, Dargotten's Eye was low but looking over the horizon, and the Wandering Eye was near Shadoweye.

There was just one problem.  Out there, she had yet to learn her bearings and she took off in the wrong direction.  She thought she was heading towards Rooster territory, but instead, she was going into the heavily-forested territory of the mysterious Snake tribe.

Before she realized this fact, Solango had made the worst mistake you can make in the Snake territory: she interrupted a sacred rite of the Shaman Timendikas, blundering into the holy site while looking for someone to give her directions.

She knew that the Shaman dealt with trespassers at his whim, sometimes killing them, other times enslaving them, other times enchanting them.  She tried to explain why she was there and that she meant no harm.  Apparently, Timendikas heard her, or Dargotten had watched over her and softened the Shaman's heart away from the evil magic he was planning for her.  Still, the Shaman punished her by turning her into her tribe's totem animal before letting her escape.

She wandered the area for a while, eventually finding her way to her erstwhile husband, Gan Qadar.  But all he saw and heard was a lost horse, and he captured her.  She tried to tell him what happened, but all he heard was the whinnys and knickering of a normal horse.  So one day, she took advantage of an opportunity and fled, finally heading towards Rooster territory.  If she could not be human, then she should at least be with the one who loved her.

Ichiro knew of another that loved her:  Her father, the great Khan.  The weaver told his lover that they should tell Khal Dalgar what had happened.  She nodded agreement.

Joyfully the two galloped for the Khan's camp.  Ichiro encountered resistance when he insisted upon taking this stray Horse tribe steed to the Khan himself.  The Horse tribe naturally wondered at this interloper's gall in approaching the great Khan, but they finally let him near the Khan's tent

The Khan shooed away his advisors when he recognized Ichiro, knowing that this was not a simple neighborly visit.  One advisor, Tawendei, a former Snake tribesman who now lived among the Horse clans, lingered, then left, too.

Alone with the Khan, Ichiro explained his incredible adventure and what Solango had told him.  Khan Dalgar had a hard time believing that the strong young filly at the Rooster man's side was his daughter, enchanted.

Until he heard what sounded like his daughter's voice:  "Father . . . help me . . ."

Solango's mother, Dongi, was passing by, and with the heightened senses of a mother for her child's voice, heard Solango, too, and rushed to the Khan in hope, only to see her husband, a Rooster tribesman, and two horses, and not her daughter.

But Solango spoke again, and Dongi and Khan Dalgar heard her once more.

Yet the tribal elders and other advisors of the Khan, who stayed a polite distance away but still within earshot did not hear Solango.  They heard only the whinnys of a horse of their breed.  They scoffed at Ichiro's story, and at the Khan and his wife for seeming to believe him.

Then Tawendei, the former Snake tribesman, who had magic, held up his hand to stop the snickering, and approached the great Khan and Ichiro, saying, 'The Rooster artisan is correct.  This is indeed your daughter under a spell of the Snake Shaman.'

"Preposterous!" cried the other ministers as one.  "We did not hear anything that even remotely sounded like a human voice."

"Shaman Timendikas has powerful magic," replied the Snake tribesman.  "Only two types of people can even pierce that magic:  Those possessing Form magic in either talent or magic, and those that love the enchanted one deeply and sincerely."

"Then can you remove this spell?" asked the Khan.

"No.  Only the spellcaster or his death can do that," was the reply.

The great Khan was wise and said to Ichiro, "It is obvious that you and my daughter love each other.  I will let you marry her, if you can meet my high standards.  A khan must be brave in battle and wise in peace. If you can see that the spell is removed, either through diplomacy or by killing the Shaman, then and only then will I let you have my blessing.  Do not worry about any revenge of the Snake tribe; we will handle it and protect your tribe from reprisals.

"I'll lend you some of my warriors, providing they agree to help you.  No offense meant, brave weaver, but few are willing to be chosen and commanded by an untested Rooster who isn't even a soldier."

Several Horse warriors stepped forward, eager to prove themselves to their Lord in this battle.  Ichiro disappointed them all when he declared, 'I need only a guide to help me find the Shaman.'

Tawendei stepped forward and said, "I will be the guide you need.  I have not been in my birth tribe's territory since I joined the Khan two councils ago, but the Shaman's village has not moved in generations and I know its location well."

"But Shaman Timendikas will send his warriors after you if he knows that you are to kill him," was the protest from the Khan.

"Not if I come in the guise of a Horse tribe envoy taking an animal of your breed as a gift to the Shaman," replied the brave Rooster tribesman.  "Only when I see the Shaman will I reveal my true purpose."

Ichiro Fujimara may have had a silk weaver's hands, but he had the spirit of a warrior burning inside.

The Khan's advisors whispered among themselves that this was a foolhardy mission doomed to fail, but they agreed to the Khan's request to outfit Ichiro with suitable garb from their own packs and tents, making him look like a Horse tribe general or clan leader.

Tawendei saddled his own horse and he and Ichiro road off towards the Snake tribe's territory.  The gift horse they took with them, was, of course, the enchanted Solango.

Shortly after they crossed into Snake territory, Tawendei pointed to a point through the thicker forest to the west, saying, "That is probably where Solango ran into trouble.  Over there is one of the sacred sites where the magic of the Snake tribe is performed and taught.  Your girlfriend was truly lucky, if you can call her enchantment lucky.  Interlopers at the sacred sites, regardless of tribe affiliation, are often summarily executed.  But all visitors are expected to appear at the Shaman's hut.  If we are to keep our guise, we must go there."

The two brave men, the Rooster weaver and the Snake-born guide, pressed on further into the forest towards the Shaman at the main Snake village.  They told the Snake tribesmen who stopped them that they had a gift for the Shaman from the Khan, but one that was to go to only the Shaman, and it was Ichiro's duty as a representative of the Khan to personally see that the Shaman gets his gift.

Eventually, they did reach the Shaman.  Tawendei hung a couple of steps behind Ichiro to let him take over, as befitted the weaver's disguise as an envoy of the great Khan.

Ichiro addressed the Shaman, "Khan Khal Dalgar sends his greetings, Shaman.  We have a gift he sends personally for you in the interest of continued goodwill between our tribes."

The Shaman replied, "I thank the Khan for this gift," and looked over the gray and black filly that was the enchanted Solango.

If Shaman Timendikas recognized his handiwork, or realized that the horse was a girl under enchantment, he did not let on.

"What may I do for you and your Khan in exchange for this gift?" asked the Shaman.

"You can start by turning this horse back into the fine girl, the Khan's daughter, that she is supposed to be,' said Ichiro with an edge in his voice.  'There are ten normal horses awaiting your tribe if you will do this for him."

"Ah, but if this enchanted girl is indeed the Khan's daughter, than she is a prize worth a hundred horses," chuckled Shaman Timendikas.  "Let her be an example for all who dare to interrupt the sacred rites of the Snake tribe!"

"She is worth even more that that to me," snarled Ichiro as he pulled out his sword.  "She is worth a life: yours or mine!  Prepare to die!"

Immediately, Ichiro lunged at the Shaman, but the Shaman was quick and dodged out of the way.  The Snake Shaman ran out of his hut to a battlefield of his choosing, deeper into the forest.  Ichiro took off after him.

Shaman Timendikas was fleet of foot, and disappeared into the grove.  Ichiro approached the trees, saying, "Come out, coward!  Fight like a man!"  Ichiro edged into the woods, sword at the ready.

Suddenly, a large cat, much bigger than any alikat that prowls the wilderness of Korresh, pounced on him from above, knocking his sword out of his hand. The Shaman was strong in Form magic, and could change his shape just as easily as he could change Solango's.  He had enough time to change into the cat before Ichiro came near.

Ichiro  fought and struggled with the cat.  The Shaman-cat clawed at Ichiro's back, and Ichiro wrestled with it, trying to force it off his back and pin it to the ground.

Finally, Ichiro gained the upper hand and had the Shaman-cat pinned.  But when Ichiro reached for his sword, the cat wriggled free and ran off.

Ichiro picked up his sword and ran after the cat.  However, no cat was to be found.  Instead, a large lizard with a long bone-crushing snout faced him.  Ichiro could see the evil gleam in its eye and knew it to be the Shaman once more.

The Shaman-lizard had sharp teeth, but Ichiro held it at bay with his sword, which was longer than the creature's jaws, poking it towards the tender areas of eye and mouth.

Suddenly, a brisk wind came up and blew fallen leaves and dust into his face.  Ichiro coughed and brandished his sword wildly agains any possible attempts by the lizard.  None came.

When the wind died down as quickly as it came and the leaves settled, Ichiro could see that the Shaman had left again.  Ichiro hunted carefully in and around the grove, but no Shaman -- or any normal animal, for that matter -- was to be seen.  The fight had scared off the regular denizens of the forest.

Finally, Ichiro walked out into a clearing, still wanting revenge.

With a mighty cry, an enormous eagle, undoubtedly the Shaman, dove for the Rooster weaver who had a warrior's heart.

Ichiro saw this, and himself dove for the ground, rolling as he did, so that he faced the falling eagle.

The Shaman-eagle had to swoop over Ichiro to avoid hitting the ground with lethal force.  Ichiro had his sword ready and ran it through the Shaman's black heart as he made the pass over Ichiro.

The Shaman's momentum carried him just beyond the Rooster hero, tumbling a few feet away.  As the body came to rest, Ichiro could see that Shaman Timendikas had returned to his human form.

Ichiro did not bother to wait to see if the Shaman was dead, but instead, pulled his sword out from the Shaman's breast and cut off his head, striking a blow that no healer, herbal or magical, can cure.

His heroic task finished, Ichiro walked wearily towards the main Snake village.  He was delighted to find that with the Shaman's death, Solango had been restored to her human form and was running to meet him.

Unfortunately, members of the Snake tribe could sense that the Shaman's various spells were lifting, and knew that the foreigner Ichiro had slain him.  They crowded in, preparing to avenge the death of their leader.

Suddenly, the commanding voice of the Khan was heard to say, "Enough!  My daughter's enchantment has been lifted and avenged.  We need no more battle over this."

Everyone turned and could see the Horse Khan, Khal Dalgar, backed by a large contingent of his best warriors.  The Snake tribesmen put down their weapons, if a bit reluctantly.  The great and wise Khan negotiated a peace by giving the Snake tribe a hundred horses of his tribe's breed, considering it a bargain for the safe and happy return of his daughter.

Once the Rooster Shogun had heard of what Ichiro had done, he, too, sent the Snake tribe a peace offering of several bolts of their finest silk, including that of Ichiro's family, the Fujimaras.  Tensions between the Snake and Rooster tribes and between the Snake and Horse tribes were tense for a while, but while no amount of material things can make up for a life, the offerings of peace did much to stave off a full-scale tribal war.

The next Council saw a beautiful wedding of the weaver-warrior and the Khan's daughter.  Both the Horse tribe Khan and the Rooster tribe Shogun tried to entice the couple to live with their respective tribes.  The Shogun, who had heard of Ichiro's bravery, offered him a post as protective Samurai of one of the border villages.  The Khan offered him an equivalent position among the clans.  It was a hard decision, but the couple finally decided to live with the Roosters and raise their children as Roosters, yet ever mindful of their mother's Horse tribe heritage.  For at least a couple of generations afterwards, their union and the descendants that followed helped to foster good relations between the Horse and Rooster tribes.

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