How things came to be...

[Elysia]

As soon as the Shield slid into place, the woman's eyes opened wide from shock in her face, which was covered by tattoos coming up from the back of the neck, under her ears and onto her face, where it spread like blossoms on her cheeks. However, as soon as she recognized the Chosen's face, she dropped to her knees and prostrated herself, her wide silk dress pooling around her.

'Well done, my pet,' Moghedien spoke softly. She moved around the strange room, glancing out a window to see the Ayyad village life.

'Tell me, why has the stream of imported slaves almost dried up?' she asked in a soft tone. Too soft.

The woman on the ground started yammering, how the Sea Folk woman was bringing people, but far too few were apparently willing to travel with the Sea Folk. Especially the insignificant types whose disappearance would arouse no suspicion.

Moghedien knelt down and cupped the woman's chin. 'Shush. You will increase your efforts. Send raiding parties if you must. Take whomever, regardless of station. You will not disappoint me again.'

The threat hung in the air as she stepped through the Gateway.

~@~

Seane stood peering up at the snow-capped mountains of the southern Spine. She had left the Stedding less than a week ago, searching for the Dreamspike that had appeared in this area. She could see the purple dome covering the land in the World of Dreams and even found the approximate location of the object in her dreams, but she knew enough that an item like this and its use was rare and likely the work of one of the Shadowsouled. It was likely, it would be surrounded by wards and potentially traps. Finding where it was hidden had been a monumental task, given the lay of the land. While not as desolate as the Waste, this was a land of plenty in comparison, the rocky crags and sharp escarpments made combing the area a tedious task. It was easy to get turned around between the cliffs and ravines. It had taken her a long time to reach the area once the dome had been discovered, walking from the Waste to here. She had stood at the foot of a towering cliff that could not be traversed, looking up, knowing she was tantalizingly close, but so faraway.

She had retreated a bit, finding water and sustenance a few miles off and lay down to sleep in order to reach out to the other Dreamwalkers. The three women were talking as she appeared in the dream. She explained that she had found the location, deep in the southern Spine, but that given the terrain, she would need help. Either to traverse the cliff and uncover the object in person, or to undo the traps in the Dream.

Sleeping as she was, she never saw the strangely dressed men creeping up to her camp. A thud to the side of her head pulled her from the dream, leaving behind the three other Dreamwalkers.

~@~


'Do you know how rare Dreamwalkers are, Rhuarc? Four of us. Four! Among all the clans! Wise Ones do not fear death, but these Wetlanders clearly do not follow ji'e'toh. Enslaving a Wise One!'

'Peace, Melaine.'

The woman's eyebrow shot up dangerously and Rhuarc made a soothing gesture.

'I will send volunteers to the Wetlander cities and the Spine to see if they can track who took her. You and the other Dreamwalkers find out what you can about where she is being held. When we know where she is, we will take her back and show these goat-kissing fools the magnitude of their error.'

[Elysia]

For relevant backstories, see:

Lokras and the strange shifts in the World of Dreams and the start of the final iteration of the now defunct Darkfriend system:
viewtopic.php?f=112&t=18680

The Sharan involvement:
viewtopic.php?f=112&t=18944

There's also something about Aiel venturing west, but I couldn't find a post about that. Anyway, there's Aiel west of Jangai that weren't there before.

This is an attempt to combine the Darkfriend/ Moghedien/ Dreamspike/ Shara storylines along with the Aiel thing and work towards a resolution.

[Elysia]

Tariq Ibrahim surveyed his little cave. His time in the Termool had been hard and this area overlooking the so-called Drowned Lands was positively lush in comparison. He put up his feet as someone tended the fire nearby, the food almost ready. Tomorrow, they would begin scouting and planning their raids.