A/N: Hello! I know, this one is a little early but of course that is for a reason! Horizon Forbidden West releases on PC tomorrow! I finally get to play it! So, I'm releasing this today in a bit of a celebration. I hope you like it.
For those who want to know about Hearthfire, I will be posting a chapter soon. Likely next weekend. Writing that, work, and Forbidden West are basically all I'm going to be doing this coming week.
As always, I love and appreciate every comment I get, and I read them all so I hope you keep them coming. They mean a lot to me.
A Digital Mother
Chapter 12
Karst
Karst held his breath and crawled forward. Peeking over the ledge, he could see the people moving about in the stone structure below him. The Nora Seekers he led were hunkered down behind a rocky outcropping that itself sat on a promontory overlooking Morning's Watch.
Morning's Watch was a Carja fortress constructed directly over the main road between Daytower and Meridian, the capital city of the Carja Sundom. After reporting to the War-Chief at the attack site, Karst and his team of Seekers followed the trail of the Carja and their captives to Dawn's Sentinel. Knowing that they couldn't pass through the Carja controlled gate, for obvious reasons, they chose to sneak their way through the mountains to the south and rappelled down the cliff face.
Luckly, while they were on the ridge, they spotted a large column of people moving down the road. Upon closer inspection, they realized that this group was made up of Carja soldiers and the captured Nora. Roughly thirty Nora prisoners were being dragged along by a force of Carja, heading southwest.
Karst and his team followed them as best they could while keeping out of sight. Unfortunately, the force of Carja soldiers numbered around forty-five and there was never an opportunity to attack under stealth, so they were forced to stay back and watch. That is, until they reached Morning's Watch.
The escorting Carja left almost immediately, heading back northeast towards Daytower and Dawn's Sentinel. Luckily, Karst had passed through Morning's Watch before. Once disguised as a Banuk hunter and two or three times posing as a Carja merchant. He knew the area fairly well and, once they'd determined that the prisoners would not be moved again that day, he'd led his team south.
Well, all of them except for Loa, who chose to try entering the fortress in disguise so that she could ferret out information from the guards. They were lucky that she had a Carja disguise in her pack or else they wouldn't have been able to get any information at all. She quickly donned her disguise and slipped around the fortress to the north, hoping to enter the Carja stronghold from the west so as not to arouse any suspicion.
A shallow vale ran to the south on the eastern side of the fortress, but the western ridge of the vale got closer to the ground the further south you went. Easily allowing for a small group of trained Nora to easily scale the face and get onto the ridge. The Carja probably knew about it but even their hunters, save for the best, weren't known to be very skilled when it came to maneuvering around difficult terrain so it was unlikely that there would be guards on the ridge.
The vale had been home to a Carja hunters camp used for training members of the Hunters Lodge when Karst last came through, but it appeared to be abandoned now. Without the hunters luring machines in, the vale was mercifully quiet. They passed through the valley without incident and scaled the face of the short cliff. Moving back to the north along the top of the ridge, they'd found themselves looking directly down onto the fortress.
One section of the outcropping was so close, they could feasibly jump directly down onto the stone battlements of the fort! So, Karst laid low, crawling towards the edge on his belly and making as little noise as possible. Down on the ground, a large man in black armor was screaming at the captain of the garrison. His voice easily loud enough to reach Karst up on the ridge.
"Keep these prisoners in line, captain." The black armored figure shouted. "I did not enter the sun-forsaken east just to lose my prize. If I return from Meridian to discover that any have escaped, I will personally claim your head." He roughly poked the captain in the chest.
"Of course, Commander Helis." The captain replied, visibly shaking. "None shall leave this camp until dawn. I swear it!"
"Good." 'Helis' nodded. If Karst understood correctly, this man was the one who'd led the assault on the caravan. He clenched his teeth in rage, glaring at the figure who kept speaking. "I will be continuing on to Meridian to report my success to His Luminance. I shall return tomorrow with a company to escort the slaves further into the Sundom."
Karst continued to listen and watch until the black armored figure left the gates, heading west with a small company. The guards were busy settling the captives. Though, there weren't only Nora prisoners. Karst recognized Oseram and Banuk tribespeople that looked to be prisoners along with what he thought might be Utaru. He'd never personally met someone from the Utaru tribe, since they lived in the Forbidden West, but Rost had described them to him when he was first preparing to go Seeking.
The fortress was rather small, all things considered. Only built to house a garrison of around thirty soldiers. From the ridge, Karst spotted battlements to the east and west with large gates in them that formed an odd triangle shape, with the cliff he was sitting on serving as one of the walls. The western wall curved sharply, coming to meet the eastern wall at a point to the north where a building sat, forming another wall within the fortress. Directly below him was a fortified building that seemed to be officer's quarters.
Set into the eastern wall, next to the gate below Karst, was the guardhouse. He could see members of the stationed platoon moving in and out. Peering down, he spotted a trap door in the floor of the battlements that looked to lead down into the guardhouse. He watched as it opened and a Carja soldier climbed out on a ladder. The soldier wandered down the wall towards the guard roaming the top of the wall. He kept watching until the two Carja traded places and the second guard descended into the trap door, closing it tight.
The building that formed the northern wall was shorter but much larger than the others with a flat roof that formed a part of the battlements. From what he could tell, it was a combination of barracks and storehouse. The road ran through the eastern gate, directly across the middle of the fort, and out the western gate. All along both sides of the road, roughly seventy people of various tribes were being chained to posts thrust deep into the ground.
West, down the cliff and across a river was the town of Lone Light, which primarily served as a provisioning place for Morning's Watch, Daytower, and Dawn's Sentinel. Karst was pulled from his observations by someone tapping his shoulder. Looking back, he spotted the pale face of Yorn, gesturing to him. Scuttling back along the ridge, his fellow Seeker whispered to him once they were well out of the fort's hearing range.
"Loa is back. She wants to report."
"Right." He nodded.
They ran as silently as they could back down the ridge to rejoin the bulk of the group. Karst could see Loa, a pale skinned woman with brown hair, removing her Carja disguise while she spoke to the gathered Seekers.
"What did you learn?" He asked, jogging up to them.
"It looks like they're splitting everyone up tomorrow morning" she replied, her voice quivering a little. "There are Utaru, Banuk, Oseram, and Nora prisoners all chained to the posts. I overheard the guards saying that half the prisoners here will be taken to some building project on the other side of the Sundom. The rest are being taken either to the mines or straight to Meridian for sacrifice in the Sun Ring." There were grimaces and grim looks all around the group.
"So those were Utaru I saw in the camp?" Karst asked. "Why would they bring Utaru all the way over here just to cart them back west again?"
"If what I heard is right, they're splitting up groups of captives all across the Sundom in order to prevent any attempts at an organized escape. Some are being put to work, others taken for sacrifice, and a few more are being sold as slave labor to wealthy citizens. Those Utaru were only brought here a couple days ago." Loa explained.
"Degenerate, sun-mad bastards." Desh, a brown-haired man, cursed the Carja under his breath.
"If they're splitting everyone up, then we have no choice but to try and rescue our people now." Torst said, grimly.
"That's all but impossible." Yorn retorted. "They're chained together with the prisoners from the other tribes. There's no chance of us freeing only our people without getting caught. Especially not while they're under guard."
"We could go in after dark." Ozea offered her thoughts. "Drop from the ridge onto the roof and take out the guards quietly. Then we could free our people."
"There's still the issue of the other captives though." Tharl, a brunette man reminded her. "We can't exactly expect them to sit quietly and accept being left behind while we rescue our people."
"Lay low for a while." Karst cut in. "I'll contact the War-Chief and let her decide what we should do."
Karst moved further down the ridge to a secluded spot. He looked out to the west over the Sundom. To the southwest he could see a Tallneck wandering around a shallow lake and Snapmaws in the river below. Tapping his Focus, Karst connected to War-Chief Sona. It didn't take her long to tie Captain Rost and High-Matriarch Teersa into the call.
"What do you have to report, Karst?" The War-Chief asked.
His explanation of their progress and current situation didn't take long. It wasn't looking good. With all the prisoners down there, there was no chance of them getting just their people out. Even ignoring that problem there was no guarantee that they could free anybody without alerting the guards. They'd have to either be extremely stealthy or take out the entire garrison if they wanted to free everybody. That was when Captain Rost spoke up.
"Karst." The captain said. "Do you know of the pass between the Sundom and the south-western lake of Valleymeet?"
The Seeker's eyebrows scrunched together in his confusion. "The one above the cauldron?" He questioned. "I know it, but why?"
"If you can free all the captives under cover of night and eliminate the garrison, you might be able to make it to the pass by dawn." He explained. "You could evacuate the prisoners into the Sacred Lands. They could then return to their homes by heading through The Cut and going around the Sundom to the north."
"Rost!" War-Chief Sona's shocked voice came through. "They may be prisoners, but you'd invite Oseram and Utaru into the Sacred Lands? We don't even know if the Banuk prisoners belong to the Werak we've been trading with!" Karst did sort of agree, but as a Seeker, he was more accepting of other tribes.
"Forgive me, War-Chief." Captain Rost apologized, "but at this point any enemy of the Carja is a friend of ours."
"That… is a very good point." The War-Chief admitted, grudgingly. Though they couldn't see him, Karst was nodding his head in agreement.
"I'm afraid I agree with Rost." High-Matriarch Teersa added. "We should not abandon anyone to the tortures of the Carja. As High-Matriarch, I am authorizing you to do this, Karst. Free all the captives." Karst nodded again.
"Agreed." The War-Chief sighed. "Seeker Karst. You're to free all the prisoners being held at Morning's Rise. Stay safe and come home."
"Understood." The Seeker replied, his voice determined. Tapping his Focus, Karst ended the call. Bending low, he made his way back along the ridge to his fellow Seekers.
"What are our orders?" Torst asked as he came up to them.
"We're to rescue everyone." Karst said, relaying the War-Chief's orders, "and lead them to the mountain pass above the cauldron to the south."
"Everyone?" Ozea asked. "Not just our people?"
Karst nodded. "Those are our orders." He could see the others all held conflicted feelings about bringing non-Nora into the Sacred Lands and if he was being honest, Karst felt the same. But of all the members of their tribe, it was the Seekers who understood best that there truly were good people amongst the other tribes. Besides, even if there weren't, Karst did not believe that he could abandon them to the tortures of the Carja. It simply wasn't in his nature.
"The War-Chief will likely handle getting them out of our lands, but for now this is our best option for freeing our people." Karst said.
"I have to admit…" Yorn muttered "it wouldn't feel right leaving them behind. I have friends among the Banuk and Oseram. I'm not sure I could look them in the eye if I left their tribesmen to the Carja…" That certainly got a reaction from the other Seekers, with many hanging their heads in shame.
They all had friends and acquaintances among the other tribes. It was the nature of their work; they were bound to interact and form bonds with those not of the Nora. Even if their friends didn't know who they really were, it didn't lessen the fact that the Seekers cared about the friends they'd made among the other tribes.
"Right." Tharl snapped himself out of his funk. "How do we do this?" The others all shook themselves, faces morphing into expressions of grim determination.
Karst peered towards the sun, shielding his eyes. "It's a few hours till sunset." He said. "We'll wait till after nightfall. Once they're all asleep, we go in quiet. Drop onto the battlements and take out the roaming guards. Then we can try and free the prisoners. If it goes well, we might be able to avoid waking the garrison."
"What if we are caught and it becomes a fight?" Loa asked.
"Arm the prisoners with weapons taken from the guards." Karst replied. "Some of them have to know how to fight. If nothing else, just having more numbers will be good for us. Let's hope it doesn't come to that though."
"Say we succeed." Talna spoke up. "Where do we go from there?"
"East." Karst nodded. "We head out the eastern gate and through the valley we passed earlier. There's a way into the mountains above the cauldron at the end of the vale. If we're lucky we can get there before dawn and we'll be in the Sacred Lands before the Carja discover what's happened."
"There are children among the prisoners," Loa reminded them all, softly "and some may be injured. "Getting them through the pass might be difficult."
Desh shook his head. "I've gone through that pass before. It's a little getting onto it from the western side and it's narrow but the pass is flat enough to walk without much issue. It's hidden behind a rockface with a small crack. The Oseram might have difficulty getting through with their traditional girth, but we should be able to get everyone inside."
"The children and injured can be carried if necessary." Ozea added.
"Once we get the prisoners out of the garrison, we can lure machines into the valley to cover our tracks." Yorn commented, drawing nods of agreement from the others.
"Lay low for now." Karst ordered. "We'll wait till the Carja are asleep and then go in."
The team of Seekers spread themselves out along the ridgeline, careful to avoid going out into any open areas where they might be seen from afar. Karst sat with his back pressed against the rock wall, watching as the sun slowly began to shrink towards the horizon. An hour or so after the sun set and night closed in, Karst roused his fellows.
They quietly made their way to the edge of the cliff overlooking the fortress. There were six guard stations on the wall. Two facing east, three facing west and one facing north. In addition to this there was an archer's tower at the northern tip of the walls and a final guard station on the ground overlooking the steep path that led west towards Lone Light and Meridian.
There were three guards on the ground watching the prisoners. Most of the captives looked to be asleep, but there were a few who were shifting in place. Karst hoped they wouldn't make too much noise and draw attention because this would be tricky even without them making a racket.
The team split into groups. Loa, as their best archer, stayed on the highest point of the ridge with her bow trained on the archer's tower. Through the windows of the tower, they could see a lone guard keeping a lookout. His silhouette lit by a fire that was burning in the tower. It would be her job to take him out if it looked like he would turn around and discover them. Three others were picked to keep an eye on the guards patrolling the ground.
The other four would be taking out the guards on the wall using stealth. The path down to the western battlements was the hardest part, so Karst chose that route for himself and picked Torst to go with him. Talna was chosen to drop to the eastern wall with Yorn.
With quiet grace born from long practice on the hunting grounds and brave trails of the Sacred Lands, the four assassins dropped to the battlements with almost no sound. Karst silently slipped behind the oblivious Carja guard. Glancing to his right, he could see that the other guards were gazing out into the night. Drawing his dagger, Karst swiftly placed his hand over the Carja's mouth and sliced his neck open.
Gently, he lowered the gurgling body to the ground. He used his hands to keep the soldier's mouth shut tight, so he couldn't scream and set the body gently on the ground so that his heavy armor wouldn't make a clunking noise when the body dropped. The Carja was dead in barely a moment.
While Karst took care of that guard, Torst crawled across the top of the gate to take out the next one. He looked down into the courtyard. A rather large fire was burning in the center of the camp, giving the guards light to see the prisoners. Luckily for them though, that same fire was casting dark shadows on the top of the wall, so the guards were none the wiser to what was happening on the battlements.
Once the second guard was dispatched, they moved on once again, stealthily making their way to the next guard. Karst took this one out, using the same technique he'd used to take out the first guard. Now came the tricky part. There were two more guards for them to take out. One was just in front of them, but the other was in the guard station on the ground below the western wall.
Karst drew his bow. Placing his trust in Torst, he watched as the other Seeker closed in on the final guard on the wall and cut his throat. Across the wall, he could finally see Talna and Yorn. Talna's furs were covered in blood, but thankfully the alarm hadn't been raised. Karst nodded to Yorn who withdrew a piece of polished metal they'd gotten on a whim during an expedition to The Claim. It was useful for throwing signals in the dark, which was just what he did.
The polished metal flashed in the light of the moon three times, letting the Seekers on the ridge know it was time. Karst drew his bow back and let the arrow fly. His aim was good. The shaft buried itself in the neck of the Carja guard to the west, who collapsed with a thunk. Four more thunks were heard along with half a shout that was quickly muffled when the other Seekers took out their targets with well-placed shots. There were no better archers alive than those trained by the Nora.
Looking down, Karst could see that the scream had come from an Utaru woman that was seated next to one of the now dead guards. She'd started to scream in fright when the arrow pierced the guard's face but was quickly silenced by the hand of a Banuk chained next to her. The Banuk woman was staring out into the darkness of the ridgeline, obviously searching for the person who'd fired the arrow.
Karst and the other Seekers held their breath, hoping that the Carja within the barracks hadn't heard the Utaru woman's frightened utterance. After a moment, when no Carja emerged to investigate, they let out a sigh of relief. Yorn signaled once again, letting the Seekers on the ridge know that it was safe to descend. Then he, Talna, and Torst made their way back to the guards they'd felled to start relieving them of their weapons.
Karst himself dropped to the ground and approached the Banuk and Utaru women, who were two of only a handful that were awake. A Nora man he didn't recognize was chained next to them and had been woken by the brief commotion. His eyes brightened as Karst emerged into the light of the fire.
"Seeker!" He whisper-gasped. Karst held a finger to his lips, gesturing for silence.
"My name is Karst." He whispered loud enough for the Utaru and Banuk women to hear him. "I am a Seeker of the Nora tribe. My team and I are here to free all those imprisoned in the fortress, but you must be silent. We can take you all to safety and help you make your way home once we're out of Carja lands."
"Samu." The Banuk whispered back, introducing herself. "My werak trades often with the werak of Song's Edge. Chief Enak speaks highly of the Nora Seekers. Your assistance is appreciated."
"M… my name is Sial." The Utaru whispered, still a little frightened.
Karst nodded and gingerly padded his way to the closest dead guard. Taking a dagger from the corpse, he returned to the group.
"Take this." He handed the weapon to Samu. "Use it to cut your bonds. Then wake the others, but quietly. We must get everyone free before the Carja realize something is amiss."
They worked quickly. The three that Karst spoke to began rousing those sleeping near them while he and his fellow Seekers started to do the same. The weapons taken from the Carja guards were handed out as they went, arming as many of the prisoners as possible. Things were going well and Karst was just about to thank the All-Mother for their luck when it suddenly ran out.
The door to the northern barracks banged open and a Carja guardsman stumbled out, a bottle in his hand. Judging by his movements, he was probably drunk. Unfortunately, he was just sober enough to recognize the sight of more than half the prisoners on their feet and a few armed. Everyone was silent, their surprise and shock rooting them in place. Then the guard screamed.
"Alarm!" He shouted, stumbling back into the door frame. "Alarm!" Samu the Banuk burst forward, using the halberd she'd traded her dagger for to remove his head, but the damage was done.
"Move!" Karst shouted. "Free the rest! Do not let a single Carja escape!" There was a flurry of activity that was all too short before the doors to the barracks, guardhouse, and officer's quarters burst open revealing armed men.
Karst's spear was in his hands as he charged the first man to emerge from the officer's quarters. He recognized the man as the captain of the fortress that had been threated by Helis. He chose to spare the man Helis' tender mercy by ramming his spear through the captains' throat.
It was a short but bloody battle that followed. Following the death of the captain, Karst was forced to duck and retreat from a man swinging a halberd wildly. He was nearly killed when a pained scream came from his left, distracting him. One of the Carja had grabbed a bow and got a lucky shot off, catching Talna in the shoulder. Thankfully, the archer was quickly taken out by a bulky Oseram man wielding a rock.
Karst's moment of distraction nearly cost him his head, but he was saved by one of Loa's arrows bursting out through the back of the Carja's skull. More clashes ensued but by virtue of surprise, righteous anger, and by this point overwhelming force, the Seekers and the now free prisoners were able to wipe out the Carja garrison.
"Search the buildings!" Karst shouted, giving orders to his team. "Make sure there are none left who can tell the Carja what happened here!"
"Nora!" A large Oseram man shouted, walking up to Karst. "You have my thanks. We were not expecting to be rescued and certainly not by Nora warriors. I was told that your tribe never leave your Sacred Lands."
"You're partially right." Karst told him. "My team and I are Seekers. Braves blessed by the goddess and the High-Matriarchs so that we might go where we choose. When the Carja captured some of our people," he gestured to the gathered Nora prisoners, "we were dispatched to rescue them. Not that we would ever leave the rest of you behind of course. We have a plan to get everyone out of the Sundom but we have to move fast."
The Oseram man introduced himself as Langen. With his help, along with that of Samu and Sial of the Banuk and Utaru tribes, Karst got the prisoners organized. All told there were 33 Nora captives in the camp. They were the only survivors of the raid on the caravan. With them were 11 Utaru, 12 Oseram, and 18 Banuk tribespeople. Adding in Karst and his Seekers, their group numbered 82 in total. Luckily, none of their number died during the short battle. The Carja had just been too caught off guard to mount a reasonable defense.
After ensuring that there were no Carja survivors, patching up their wounded, and making sure to take as many supplies and weapons as they could reasonably carry the group moved out. Karst led the group out of the eastern gate and into the valley his team passed through that morning. Just as the last straggler passed into the valley, he gave orders to two of his Seekers.
"Torst. Desh." He said. "There should be machines in that valley to the north." They both nodded, looking in the direction he was pointing. "Once we are deep enough, I want you to lure them in but stay silent. I don't want you two getting in a fight. We just want the machines to cover our tracks."
"Understood." Desh nodded. "We can lure them in with a few well places shots."
"Best to use Carja arrows we took from the fort." Torst mused. "We don't want to give them any evidence of Nora involvement in the escape of the prisoners." Desh quickly agreed.
Leaving them to it, Karst continued to lead the convoy of prisoners into the valley. It was rough going. The terrain was rocky and uneven which made it cumbersome even in daylight. Trying to cross it with recently freed prisoners, some of whom were children, injured, or weak from hunger? Damn near impossible but somehow, they managed it.
Coming to the end of the valley, they discovered a rough track beaten into the dirt, leading south towards the cauldron. Karst stood upon a boulder, watching as the pack of half frightened half relieved prisoners went along the trail past him. Only a situation like this could cause what he was seeing.
Two Nora women were walking on either side of an Oseram man, holding him up while he hobbled along on an injured foot. Then an Utaru woman trundled past holding onto a young Banuk child that looked to be slowly falling asleep. So many different tribes brought together by the horrors of the Carja. If only war hadn't been necessary for members of disparate tribes to show such camaraderie.
Soon enough, they were rejoined by Torst and Desh. The two Seekers used well placed bow shots to lure a pack of Broadheads and Lancehorns into the valley, effectively covering their tracks. Clapping them on the shoulder, Karst continued on. Up at the front, a bandaged Talna was leading the group, but Karst knew that they'd need to veer off the trail soon. Jogging along the column, he caught sight of the three leaders that had emerged from the non-Nora prisoners.
"Where are we going?" Sial asked the other two, nervously unaware that Karst was coming up behind her.
"Haven't the foggiest!" Langen laughed. "Don't really care much at the moment either. So long as we're away from the Carja, it's an improvement."
"We are likely headed for Nora lands." Samu answered Sial's question. "I do not know of any entrances from this side not controlled by the Carja, but these Nora clearly do."
"You're right." Karst said, jogging up to them. "There's a trail through the mountains further along this path. We'll have to be quiet since its above a cauldron, but it shouldn't be difficult to get everyone through."
Sial jumped slightly before her face turned inquisitive. "Forgive me, captain but may I ask a question? I have only heard rumors of the Nora before."
"Of course." Karst nodded to her. "Ask and I shall answer if I can."
"Rumors say at your tribe are ruled by women, but you seem to be the leader here. Is it true?" The Oseram man looked interested as well. Karst nodded.
"It is." He said. "We are a matriarchal society. This stems from our belief in the All-Mother who first gave life to humanity and later restored the world when it was destroyed by Accursed Faro and the Metal Devil. In honor of the goddess, we hold the act of motherhood most sacred."
"So, all your men are subservient to women?" Langen asked, looking a little disturbed. The Oseram were fiercely patriarchal. Karst shook his head.
"Not entirely. After all, I am the leader here, not one of the women. Each village is ruled by the Matriarchs, that is true, and the tribe as a whole is ruled by the High-Matrairchs, but men can rise high and there is no discrimination when it comes to assigning posts or hearing council. The words of any who possess wisdom are heeded, regardless of gender. The Matriarchs are in charge of domestic affairs, but it is the captains of each village garrison that control hunting and military matters. Most men will only rise to be a Brave, but some become captains or even War-Chief."
"War-Chief?" Samu asked. "Is that your leader during wartime?" Karst nodded his head in affirmation.
"The War-Chief is the one who holds total command of the Braves, regardless of if we are at war or not. They are charged with the security of the Sacred Lands and answer only to the All-Mother and the High-Matriarchs."
"So, your War-Chief is a man?" Langen spoke.
"No," Karst corrected him. "War-Chief Sona is a woman but her predecessor, War-Chief Furn was a man who led our tribe for two decades before his death in battle against machines."
"Your tribe respects strength then." Samu commented, seemingly pleased. "This Furn must have been strong indeed to lead for so long and your new chief must be his equal." Karst nodded.
"War-Chief Sona is probably the best warrior we have. The only one who could potentially match her in skill is her second, Captain Rost." The others nodded in understanding before Sial posed another question.
"Forgive me, but I do have another question." Karst gestured for her to continue. "I have heard that your tribe are forbidden from leaving your lands, yet you are seemingly familiar with this terrain. Why is that? Are you not truly forbidden from leaving?"
"For the most part, we are." Karst shrugged. "The average member of the tribe will never leave our lands since only Seekers have the blessing of the High-Matriarchs to come and go as they choose."
"One of your people called you a Seeker." Sial said, her eyes brightening.
"My Braves and I are all Seekers." Karst confirmed. "That is why we were tasked with rescuing you and our captive tribesmen."
Unfortunately, he could not continue because they were dangerously close to going too far south. Up ahead, in the pale light of early dawn, he could see a large rocky promontory overlooking the trail. If they kept going much further, they'd descend into the valley where the cauldron entrance lay. Raising his hand, Karst signaled Talna.
"It's time to leave the trail!" He called out, getting the attention of the others. "We must turn east and continue up the slope!" Running to the head of the column, Karst took point from Talna and led the group of 82 people forward and up the hill. It was a fairly steep incline but not egregious. The sun had only just started to appear when they reached their first real obstacle.
There was a short but very much vertical cliff face in their way. The entrance to the hidden path lay on top of it and to their right was a very steep drop almost directly onto the cauldron entrance. Karst could see a few Watchers far below his vantage point. Scrambling up to the top of the cliff face, which he was just barely able to grab ahold of without jumping, he reached down and helped pull Sial up.
In a relatively simple order, they slowly began to pull everyone else up to the top of the cliff and onto the narrow path. This necessitated those who clambered up first to continue on down the cliff towards the entrance to the hidden path.
"Desh, take point." Karst said, clapping his fellow Seeker on the shoulder. The man nodded and pushed ahead, leading the others into the pass. Karst stood and waited, bow drawn and scanning behind them for any sign of pursuers until the very last stragglers had clambered up and moved into the hidden path. Then he too moved through the hidden entrance and onto the narrow pass.
It was certainly cramped, and in some places, they were forced to pass almost single file. Which was particularly difficult for the wounded, but they made it work. It took hours and the sun had reached high noon before the entire company made it to the other side and into the Sacred Lands. Karst breathed deep, savoring the cool air of his homeland. Gazing out to the east, he could see a small lake to his right and another small pond to his left. Nora fishing huts used year-round by those who liked to try their hand at fishing, lined the shores of both bodies of water.
Below the exit to the pass was the hardest part yet. A hazardously steep path wound its way down the mountain to the valley floor, intermittently spaced with rocky ledges that served almost as giant stairs. Karst could hear the Nora captives exclaim in joy as they beheld the Sacred Lands while the rescued prisoners of other tribes gave sighs of relief or astonishment. A few were afraid because of the height, but they'd have to get over it if they wanted to get down.
It was a long and difficult process getting them all down the slope. The children and the wounded were carried as best as possible down the easiest path while the more able bodied scrambled down the steeper bits. There was one scary moment when an older Utaru man slipped and went sliding down the steep sides of the mountain, but he was thankfully grabbed by a young Banuk woman before he went too far and only received a few bumps and scrapes for his trouble.
They were all hot, exhausted, and starving by the time the members of their company collapsed at the bottom of the slope. None of them had eaten anything since the night before or even longer in the case of some of the former prisoners. Still, Karst could not allow himself to collapse yet, nor could the other Seekers. This was because waiting for them by the shores of the lake was what amounted to a hunting party led by War-Chief Sona. Clapping a gasping Oseram man on the shoulder as he passed, Karst moved towards his leader.
"War-Chief." He bowed his head. "We have returned, as ordered."
"Aye." She smiled at him. "Welcome home."
A/N: There we go! Prisoners rescued and returned to the Sacred Lands! This went well, but not everything is going to go so perfectly. We'll see how the Red Raids continue going forward. Please leave a comment with your thoughts, questions, and opinions!
I know this chapter was all from one perspective, but I hope you liked it. We'll get back to the normal format in the next chapter.
As for the fort, I spent so long clambering all over it in Zero Dawn trying to figure out how they'd infiltrate and what route they'd take. Originally, I meant for them to leave from the west gate and actually go past the cauldron but then I realized that if they did that, they might be spotted by a lucky sentry in Lone Light, so I had them go east and down the valley. I really hope that my descriptions made sense and that you liked it!
Thank you all so much for answering me about the face paint! Since most everybody liked number 1, that is the one I'll be going with. It's my favorite too.
A couple of you mentioned the headdresses for the armor sets and I have to say, I don't intend for Aloy to use them. As far as I remember, no other Nora ever uses one except for the High-Matriarchs. They have their armor but no head piece, so I won't have Aloy use them either. Plus, I don't like how most of them look, especially in ZD.
OH! A couple people mentioned that I added a Star Wars reference. That was for a very specific reason. Go back and read that section and put in the comments if you caught what I was trying to do there.
Last thing! A prompt for those writers out there. It's a fairly common trope in a lot of circles but I like the idea and I've never seen it done here. Basically, Aloy from the end of Forbidden West time travels, (accidentally) back to the day where baby Aloy is released from ELEUTHIA-9 and basically becomes her own mother. She is accepted by the Nora thanks to having access to the door and joins the tribe. This means a fully adult and kitted out Aloy will be involved with the Red Raids from the start and baby Aloy will sort of have a mom and a tribe!
Alternatively, she leaves the Nora with Baby Aloy and joins another tribe. Banuk, Oseram, Tenakth, Utaru, whatever. Just not the Carja since Jiran will still be alive and kicking.
Answers to Questions
On FFN
Guest: Thank you!
Rios: GAIA has a strict no contact with the vast majority of the tribe unless absolutely necessary rule. Only Aloy and, to a lesser extent, Vala get to talk to her with any regularity. Plus, that would mean her somehow giving them the sensors which she probably doesn't really have or have a way of getting to them without opening up ELEUTHIA-9.
Frostwolf3227: I have plans and ideas for how advanced Aloy will be, but I don't intend for her to be completely OP. It wouldn't make much sense for her to be completely unstoppable, at least right away. I do like the grappling hook idea though. I might use that.
Dragon Master 888: Thank you! I do have a few plans/ideas for what will happen with the members of the other tribes, so we'll see how that goes soon.
LunaShadowWolf: I like Karst too. I hope you liked this chapter from his perspective. I do have a vague plan for Rest but I'm not quite sure how far I want to take it yet. I do agree with you about the Matriarchs though. Teersa is the best and Lansra is a steaming pile of machine excrement.
On AO3
RicketyKid: I'm glad you like it!
Ryanlarsen84: Thank you! You make a good point about the head piece but I don't think I'll have Aloy use one, so it won't be a problem.
Jpxo999: Thank you! I'm still in the early planning stages for how I want to introduce Sylens but he will probably be very confused at first.
JamaLlama: Clone Wars is one of the best shows ever. I did put it in for a reason though. Did you catch what it was?
YoGO: There will be more things from the dissidents inside the tribe but thanks to GAIA, they are fairly marginalized.
TheLoveOfHorizon: I'm sorry you didn't like them, but I hope you keep liking the story!
WolvezRock17: I hope you liked how it went! Let me know what you think?
Deltanumber4: I'm glad you like what I'm doing! Thank you very much. I hope you continue to like and read my work.
BatGlow568: Thank you!
ReviewerDWJ2: I hope the arc went how you hoped! We'll see more of Resh soon enough, but he and the other malcontents are fairly isolated thanks to GAIA. Thank you for your suggestions!
Crazykupkakes9226: I'm really enjoying having Aloy grow up in a properly healthy environment. She deserved to have a much happier life than the one she got in canon. If only I could do the same for Beta, but I'll get to her eventually. Thank you so much for letting me know your thoughts on everything so far! Unfortunately, though, I am very unlikely to have Elizabet return. As much as I love the stories where she lives, I think that's too much of a departure from canon for me. I prefer to introduce a single change at the start and see what changes spawn from it and that wouldn't really work if I had Elizabet be alive. Still, I hope you like what I have planned going forward!
Boudica96: Thank you! I did want to pay a little homage to his face paint.