Tenrir listened patiently and stone-faced as Kou'rha breathlessly explained the vision he had seen. The old shaman paused a few moments after Kou'rha had finished, plucking at one of the coarse strands of hair in his beard. "I wished to keep the truth from you, Kou'rha," he said finally with a murmur. "But now, I think, there are things that you must know."
Kou'rha frowned. "What does the vision mean?" he demanded.
"I do not know," he admitted. "I feared that you would see nothing this night. It is good that you saw something, but I wish that you had seen something else."
Kou'rha gave a low rumble of despair. "And I also, Uncle. It caused me great fear. But... If you did not think that I would see anything, why did you send me?"
Tenrir poked at the small fire in his hut with a stick, staring into the flames as though they would give answer. "This is a thing you must keep secret, Kou'rha," he said grimly, embers lighting his wrinkled visage. "No one must know but we two, or the village would be destroyed." Kou'rha nodded in agreement. Tenrir gave a low, long sigh. "It has been at least five moons since I have heard the great spirits."
"Five moons?!" Kou'rha gasped. "But- Why? Are you ill, Uncle? Have you offended them that they will not give you words?"
Tenrir shook his head. "You do not understand. It is not I that cannot hear. The spirits are just... gone."
Kou'rha blinked, trying to grasp the gravity of it. "Gone? To where? Why have they left?"
"A great darkness is coming over the land, nephew," Tenrir said. "The spirits wanted to stop it, but it was too strong for them." His voice softened, almost fearful. "I heard their cries, for a moment. Terrible cries..." He shook his head. "Where they have gone, I do not know. But they are gone. Only their blessing magic is left."
Kou'rha sat stunned, distraught. "What could be so terrible that even the great spirits flee?" he wondered aloud. "Is it the Others? Have they brought a curse with them?"
"No, they suffer with us, and worse. They have fled their lands, and their great spirits are gone." He sighed. "For once, Kou'rha, I truly do not know what to do."
There was a long silence before something struck Kou'rha. "We must find the great spirits, Uncle," he said decisively.
Tenrir made a curious grunt. "Find the great spirits? I do not know where you would begin."
"If the Others cannot find their spirits, perhaps we can search for them together," Kou'rha offered. An edge of excitement crept into his voice. "They are destructive, and they look weak, but they may be friends in our need."
Tenrir tugged at his beard again. "Yes... I think you may be right, Kou'rha." A proud smile briefly lit his face. "But I cannot go with you. I am too old, and the village still needs me."
His nephew nodded. "I understand, Uncle. I shall go myself, and return with the great spirits." He stood as though to leave, eager if ignorant.
"Wait," the shaman ordered, rising to his feet. "There is something you must first do."
(OOC: Back in action if you'll still have me, Mr. GM
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