[HQ Ignorance] Scene 105: The Gophers of Pent

[Lev Lafayette]

Scene 105: The Gophers of Pent

Agreeing to the strategies recommended by The Fourth, Res Publica and
the White Moon Revolutionaries bid a sad farewell to the illuminates.
Dried fish would be sent to Praxelities, King of the Empire of the Sun,
with the gratitude from the shadow he never sees. Further, the White
Moon Revolutionaries would not seek to convert the army of Dorastor, and
would not hinder the forces of the Orlanthi who seek to confront them.
Taking one of the White Moon's magical doves, Aalmon the Far-Rider
mapped out their required journey to meet up with the other members of
the Fellowship.

"The journey will be long and ardous", Aalmon warned. "We must travel
hundreds of leagues across the desolate and cold wastelands of Pent
before we reach the borders of Karlorela. I have made some modifications
to your vehicle, what you call a pram. With the addition of this light
horse, we have made it into a sort of chaise."

Aalmon was not wrong. For the next two weeks, they journeyed across the
the northern outskirts of the Lunar Empire, living lightly on their
provisions and witnessing few people, with the exception of maurauding
trolls which were speedily avoided. As they entered the Redlands, there
was greater evidence of human habitation, but Aalmon warned that they
may not be friendly. "The people of these lands have declared war on the
Lunar Empire and great numbers have sought to pillage the city of
Palbar. Beyond that they will strike at the Lunar Heartland. A heroine
no less than the demigod Jar-eel the Razoress has raised an army to
clash with them. I would not like to witness this battle from either
side."

But it was not the Pentian nomads who made their presence known, but
rather a more primitive culture. It started with a group of hunters who
came into the night and attempted to relieve the party of some of their
foodstuffs. The Fourth caught them in the act, a trollking being very
familiar with the activities of thieves in the darkness, and in his
cryptic way, offered to dine with the visitors. It was then they told
their story.

They were the Gord'Un, a people who swore against the coming of the
Horse and the Horse people. Alone among the people of Pent, the Gord'Un
declared the Horse to be a monster, eating all the grass on the
steppelands that had previously been available for Grandfather Gopher
and his children. When Grandfather Gopher tried to tell Horse not to eat
all the grass, Horse said "Nay. If I don't eat the grass and you do,
then my children will be hungry." Horse stamped on Gopher and drove him
underground. Since then the Gopher people, the Gord'Un, have built traps
for Horse, the primitives explained, looking hungrily at the steeds of
Aalmon and The Fourth.