Ku-Wahi'Kahu/Forgehall

[Zurajai]

The calm waters outside of Forgehall rippled with activity. From far away it would seem as if a school of porpoises, perhaps, were travelling at the surface, occasionally diving below but never surfacing too far. From a skilled fisherman's eyes it could be seen that nearly twenty individuals were swimming with the pod, fins occasionally breaking the waves to glisten in the sunlight. As the "pod" of swimmers closed the distance to the docks it became rapidly clear that these were in no way porpoises. Scales and webbed fins were seen at the surface and their shapes humanoid in nature. It was only till they arrived at the docks that they surfaced, pulling themselves from the waves to climb onto the wooden platforms.

"Kaua'ho tenei-wahi ki'Raro," was the first thing to escape the lead Merfolk's lips as he stepped forward, reaching the true earth where the docks were anchored to take a knee and pour the liquid contents of an unstoppered crystal vial into the dirt. As soon as his task was accomplished he stood and took his first step onto dry land, opening his arms to the wide eyed dock workers and speaking in a heavily accented tongue that passed for High Goblin.

"By bid of Hina'Rangi o'te'Wahi-Kahu I come, to share words with the Goblins o'te'Opali-hanao."

[AspenIvan]

Merfolk were not unheard of among the high goblins, but to see a pod of twenty emerge onto the docks all at once was a sight no one was prepared for.  Laborers and fisherfolk stepped back hurriedly as the foreigners climbed the docks, and a few even drew weapons.  Raiding and being raided were well known among the disciples.

Fortunately, the authority on the scene was competent to the task of welcoming the aquatic strangers.  An elderly Kizilsafi guard-captain in studded leather, wearing a rusty helmet encircled with a red cloth, stepped forward from the crowd to deal with the merfolk.

"We know not of the liege you speak of, but we welcome you to our shores one way or the other."  The goblin-man had a sword on his belt but kept his hands far from the hilt to signal his peaceful intentions.  Better to die justly than live by injustice, as Saint Tabitha's words went.

"If you've come to speak to the Goblins of Forgehall, we are they.  But I take it you are looking for someone of particular authority, not for a simple conversation on the seaside, or am I mistaken?"

[Zurajai]

"There is no liege but for the Grey Masters and Mawar, but such ignorance is forgiven."

The ambassador motioned for his guards, sporting a mix of what appeared to be thick coral and shell kept together with strips of aquatic mammalian leather and sinew as armor, to reveal their weapons in a Ku'Ano traditional gesture of trust and submission.

"I am to share words with those who speak for you o'te'Opali-hanao. This was my charge by the Grey Masters and Mawar o'te'Raro."

[AspenIvan]

"None speak for the Whole of the Disciples, but for the Council of Orders and our chosen Grandmaster," the old captain replied, mirroring the merman's phrasing. "If you'll follow me, I'll send a runner ahead and lead you to them.

"If it would not besmirch their duties, I would ask that your guards stay here. If they must accompany you, they must at least leave their weapons outside the Great Hall. It is a holy place, where none but the Saints may bear arms."

[Zurajai]

"Your desire to do as asked of you is admirable and so I shall return the favor," echoed the Ambassador swiftly as he turned and held up a hand before quickly letting out a stream of words in his watery tongue, "My guards will remain as is your way. Lead the way, You o'te'Huli-Pama."

[AspenIvan]

The old goblin bowed in respect and acknowledgment, though with his crooked back the gesture was not especially grandiose.  After calling for a runner -a younger Kizilsafi warrior with a warg- and sending him off, the elder lead the merfolk ambassador through the city to the Great Hall.  He stopped at the entrance for a moment, facing the huge darkwood double-doors with their many golden decorations.

"This is the Great Hall, where the Hall of the Saints meets the halls of mortals," he explained.  "It is of two substances, mundane and divine, those which are separate in all other places brought together here.  Not everyone inside is mortal..." the guard captain turned his head slowly to face the ambassador, "but something tells me you'll be able to tell the difference.  Call it instinct."

With that, the soldier departed at his usual sluggish pace, and the doors opened, revealing the full splendor of the Great Hall.  Inside awaited the Council of Orders, four goblins in simple robes of a single color each: Nakbaji orange, Kizilsafi red, Hayani green, and Tarabayi purple.

"Greetings, ambassador," announced the figure in orange, standing at the center of the group slightly ahead of the rest.  "I am Grandmaster Olga Nakbaji of the Disciples, and these are the Masters of the Kizilsafi, Hayani, and Tarabayi Orders.  Together we speak for the goblins of Forgehall.  

"And he," the Grandmaster moved her gaze to face a figure in dark black-and-gold robes sitting atop a column and writing in a large tome, "is Saint Koldar the Chronicler, one of the Saints of the First Age.  Whom do we have the honor of meeting, and as a representative of what realm and people?"

[Zurajai]

The Ku'Ano ambassador bowed before the grouped goblins, dropping to his knees and placing his forehead to the floor. His entrance into the Great Hall was one of great personal feeling for the merfolk. The place practically hummed with mana, so condensed was it in a single location, and the sensation was truly overwhelming.

"You honor me with such an audience," he proclaimed as he raised himself from the ground, "I am Kainalu Tama'Keahi o'te'Roa-ao; Servant of the the Hina'Rangi, the Grey Masters, and great Mawar o'te'Raro. I have swam here from my homeland, Ku-Wahi'Kahu, so that they o'te'Raro might share words with they o'te'Opali-hanao."

[AspenIvan]

"Ku-Wahi'Kahu," pronounced the Saint from atop his marble perch, looking at the clergy below.  "Roughly translates as Place of the People of the Dark Depths.  And o'te'Opali-hanao refers to the hills that surround Forgehall.  He's calling you hillfolk, because the old name stuck."

Saint Koldar then turned his head to face the merman.  "They don't remember!" he exclaimed in the Ku'Ano's own tongue.  "They don't remember how I talked on and on about my travels in your ancestral land, and they don't remember the hills either!  That's why Chroniclers such as myself, who used to be as common as grass in the First Age, are so important in these dark times.  What they don't remember, they can read."

Although they hadn't understood their Saint, the Grandmaster and Masters nodded respectfully to him.  Counsel from a Saint was no less than sacred...at least most of the time.

"We are honored as well," Olga finally replied to the ambassador.  "You have traveled far, no doubt, to see us.  Please share with us what business you would that we conclude in the Great Hall today."

[Zurajai]

Kainalu raised a scaled eyebrow as the deified goblin spoke in his native tongue. This was a tangata who had reached a point of such great mana that he had in a sense become an atua of his own. The similarity to the theological concept of the Wairua was striking and one that the ambassador couldn't help but react to with a mix of awe and reverence. He was only stolen from his thoughts by the call of the still-mortal goblins of the Order Council.

"Mawar o'te'Raro has sent me to make trade with you and your people. He has shared with us the location of this very place, a holy site here in the Grey Realm. It is in the interest of our faith that Ku'Ano might make pilgrimage to it. This Hall is a place of Great Mana. This would bring wealth, as well, as you could no doubt expect, for both of our people."

[AspenIvan]

Merfolk making a pilgrimage to the Great Hall? The concept was bizarre, to say the least. Every one of the Masters was at least a little worried about the potential implications. But it gave Master Vyolet Tarabayi an idea.

"Should the Saints consent to these pilgrimages," began the purple-robed cleric, "the deal does not seem quite fair on its own. Some extra coin for merchants and treasuries for both, but the additional benefit of this mana you speak of for your people - and with the burden of housing and feeding potentially hundreds or thousands of pilgrims squarely on our houses and our fields and fisheries."

The Grandmaster frowned at the Tarabayi; Vyolet was known for being rather blunt and a little tactless despite his many virtues. But she did not interrupt him, sensing that he was about to get to his point.

"All to say, we would require some sort of compensation beyond the price the pilgrims pay in the markets and inns. A small toll, a recompense for allowing so many foreigners access to the sacred heart of the High Goblin Capital."

[Zurajai]

"This is very not good," exclaimed Kainalu as he stared down the diminutive goblin that sought to lay a price of the Ku'Ano faith, "We offer free and open trade between our people and you levy a tax upon us as 'compensation'.

Your people will enjoy great prosperity from such ventures, yet you seek more! If I had simply asked for trade my people would have been to your city without question and would have seen your holy site for free. Now that I ask, as friend with open arms, you hunt for profit. This is very not good. You alone, Vyolet o'te'Apo-Nui, will see to your people's mana waning even when those who simply guard as o'te'Huli-Pama labor to see it wax. Shameful."

[AspenIvan]

"Master Vyolet is simply looking out for the finances of the Disciples in these times of great danger and need," Grandmaster Olga interjected calmly. She was not especially favorable to the Tarabayi Master's proposal, but she couldn't simply let a foreign dignitary besmirch his honor unchecked.

"Though I believe some clarification is required: Good ambassador, would your pilgrims need to actually enter into the Great Hall for their purposes, or simply behold its presence?"

[Zurajai]

"The wise seek to see their friends see plenty as much as they so that both can become strong," chided Kainalu, obviously disdainful of the excuse, "They do not seek to gain over friend's loss."

"The path of mana atua needs no more than to see such works, and those who see shall be bettered for it. One does not ask to step inside a statue yet one will learn and grow from seeing it all the same. No, such visits are to gain mana from your own through eyes. Your people too will gain great mana through the path of mana atua as my people contribute to your prowess. Both of our people's mana shall wax from such a friendship, but only if it is fair and equal in dealings."

[AspenIvan]

"Very well, your proposal is quite acceptable to me," Olga Nakbaji concluded. "What say you, fellow Masters?" The others nodded in agreement, though Vyolet was somewhat begrudging in the gesture. "And you, noble Saint Koldar?"

The Chronicler simply shrugged. "I am here to witness, record, and advise. The decisions are up to you. I'd say it's as fair a deal as any."

"Excellent," replied the Grandmaster. "Now the only issue is that our docks currently do not have the capacity to receive so many merchants and pilgrims at present. The necessary expansions probably cannot be finished until the end of next year."

[Zurajai]

"Such a necessity is understandable and expected," commented, picking up right where the Grandmaster left off, "Then we shall see trade between our people then. I shall bring similar plans of expansion to the Grey Masters so that we may be prepared for that time."

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