Chapter 7
"In seasons past, power came to those with the sharpest claw and fastest bite. Then came to day when beast first set metal to fire, and power came from the edge of a blade. Now, power is spat from the barrel of a cannon. Who can say where power will come from tomorrow?"
-Tabura Telenor
843 AR (cont.): King MacAugraw is understandably surprised to see the nemesis that he has thought dead for tens of seasons standing before him, but manages to pull himself together before his guards do anything rash. His voice wavering slightly, he asks Talrus what he is doing here.
Talrus tells him that he is doing exactly what Erbon had said he was here to do: work out a way for the vermin in the Northlands to live in peace with the other species of the realm. Talrus explains how he has read the book of this "Deyna", and come to the realization that his race and the other "vermin" races must live in peace with the "woodlander" species. He has come to King MacAugraw to strike a deal: if Talrus can convince the vermin bands to lay down their arms, the King must allow the vermin to be full citizens of his Kingdom, allowed to live in peace.
King MacAugraw is of course skeptical. He had been Talrus' nemesis for seasons, and though most thought the fox long dead, many of his former lieutenants and followers still claimed to act in his memory through their incessant raids.
But Talrus insists that all he wants is peace for the Northlands, and through that example, all beasts everywhere. King MacAugraw cautiously agrees that Talrus and his followers will be allowed to travel the kingdom safely if they can convince the vermin bands to lay down their arms (the King will of course order his agents to follow the beasts in secret, to insure that Talrus is not crafting an army for himself).
For the next few seasons, Talrus will remain true to his word, traveling all across the Northlands, telling (so would say preaching to) vermin of the message of But a Beast, and encouraging peace between all species.
Despite all this, the King cannot afford to be distracted from his plans…
844 AR:Tanrud and his crew, along with the Emperor and his attendants, return to the western coast of Zhong-guo after their tour of the Empire. Tanrud is impressed by what he has seen.
Zhong-guo is a massive land, and far more species live there than in Mossflower country. And for the most part, barring some ancient rivalries between different clans and families these beasts live in harmony with one another, with no distinctions between "vermin" and "non-vermin". Even reptiles and birds are seen as no different than mammals because of their species.
The Zhong-ge have had the art of stormpowder making for countless seasons, perfecting it's us through their own versions of rockets and paw-cannons (although larger-scale cannons where never invented in Zhong-guo). Their scholars also contemplate the mysteries of the universe, and the great libraries of Zhong-guo are filled with scrolls and books of philosophy, literature, and history.
While studying some of those works of history, a scholar in Tanrud's crew learns more about the origin of Bashou, the ancient rat warlord who brought stormpowder to Mossflower and the surrounding countries. He had lived during a time of civil war, when Zhong-guo had fragmented into several warring kingdoms. Driven out, had sailed up past the Southern Marshes and landed in southern Southsward, before attempting to conquer that land and the fertile lands of Mossflower above the Western Desert.
However, Zhong-guo is not a utopia; slavery is still practiced, although unlike amoung the vermin of Mossflower, it is not a matter of species. Slaves in Zhong-guo are mostly those who are forced into the life by debt or are born to slaves, but the fact that most land-owning lords use slaves almost exclusively to farm their lands means that many are forced to sell themselves into that life if they cannot learn a trade.
It should also be noted that some of the more philosophical of the Mossflower crew come to the conclusion that Zhong-ge culture seems to have become stagnate. In seasons past, the Zhong-ge sent ships to the far reaches of the world, exploring distant lands that the beasts of Mossflower had never heard of, but in the present, they rarely leave their own shores. While their rockets were much more advanced than even the Confederacy had been able to create, their paw-cannons were more primitive, and both had been of the same design for countless seasons.
In short, Tanrud's crew believes that there is much that they can learn from the Zhong-ge, and much that they have to offer them. Saying their farewells to the Emperor and the friends that they have made, the first beasts of Mossflower to set footpaw on Zhong-guo begin the journey back home. After another stop in Caujel, the crew will eventually reach Salamandastron in 447.
845 AR: An army of ravens and crows, led by the raven Bronzetalon, attacks the Long Patrol fort of Sandgate using stolen and scavenged stormpowder weapons. Although the weapons are ill-suited to use by a bird, the sheer size of the flock, combined with the unexpectedness of the attack, results in the Sandgate garrison being slaughtered. Bronzetalon declares himself King of the Lowlands (southern Mossflower), and Sandgate his castle. When word reaches Lord Rockstripe, he is of course furious. He marches at the head of the Long Patrol for Southern Mossflower. However, it will take him the rest of the season to get their; Mossflower is a big place, especially for an army towing artillery and ammunition.
846 AR: The Spring of Wars begins as King MacAugraw's armies and allies pour over the Mountains of the Far north. The Invasion of the Lands of Ice and Snow has begun.
