Raschen chuckled as the little one's gathered to him for a story he'd told them since they were old enough to understand his words. He pet Tristan's ears and smiled to Lark when she padded closer, picking her up by her feline scruff and settling her in his lap beside Tristan.<br/><br/>"Ha ha...alright...alright.." he muttered as the the story was demanded of him again.<br/><br/>He looked slowly to the towering Ituha then to his lovely Taryn. He took a breath and looked back to their host and down to the little ones.<br/><br/>"Long before you childer were born, the eastern Warren was at peace between the territories of five tribes: The Hase, The Kuguar, The Kyote, The Hyane, and The Hume. Well...I say they were at peace...it was more like a mutual agreement not to eat one another in exchange for market and materials. In this world there was a young Kuguar Captain, He was much stronger than anyone but family knew of. You see this Kuguar could make the ground and the mountains and the remnants of nature do just as he wanted if he concentrated hard enough. He knew what our people called "Magick".<br/><br/>The Kuguar had been told to keep his eyes upon his own people..told that it was best if hi mind didn't wander. But he couldn't help it. He was so curious of the towering Hume walls that he would spy on them when he had the chance to see Hume emerging from them. Up until one day, he thought all hume had faces of leather and glass. But one day a Hume female emerged without those strange things on her face. Unlike the rest of her people, he could breath the Warren air because of her own Magicks, though her people call them "Talents". "<br/><br/>Lark jumped up. "That was mama!!" She roused with a giggle, her father chuckling and petting her head, settling her back down in his lap.<br/><br/>"You see...this Hume could steal the water from the air and even her own body. She could change herself into the same foggy waters we see in the warren rivers. Like the Kuguar, she could bend parts of her environment to her will and make it her weapon and shield.<br/><br/>The Kuguar was very curious of the Hume and often found himself watching her whenever she may emerge from the Hume walls. One night he spied Hyane soldiers approaching her camp. Vicious creatures who love to see others in pain and want nothing more than to spill blood. The Kuguar, feeling protective of the Hume, gathered his men to intercept the Hyane but never told them of the Hume...he simply told them the Hyane were hunting outside of their territory. You see the Kuguar was a clever one."<br/><br/>He felt Taryn playfully swat at him for being so proud and he laughed. "Just adding a bit of flavor..." he muttered with a smirk.<br/><br/>"He saved the sleeping Hume and her companion Hase from attack. That was the first time he met her eyes. She had awoken from the ruckus and looked up to see the Kuguar blocking her from the sight of his Kuguar brothers. It only took one gaze to seal his need to be near her; to protect her and make her his. But to let your eyes fall outside of your clan was...Blasphemy."<br/><br/>His face became a serious one. "Not long after their first meeting ....fire....rained from the sky....it fell upon the five tribes like a summer storm and wrought destruction no one had seen since the great wars. So many homes...gone...so many lives....lost." He sighed heavily, petting Larkin and Tristan. He took a calming breath and looked back up.<br/><br/>"Of course...every tribe wanted to blame another. They all held beliefs of who was responsible but they found, after wise words from the Kuguar and the Hume, that the fire had rained upon every village at the same time. Who would attack their own just to fight suspicion. They could tell that there was another responsible. Scouts from every tribe found suspicious tracks leading away from the cities, long smooth, winding tracks. Tracks only left by snakes....though these were different...they weren't narrow lines like normal snakes...they were massive, terrifying tracks. "<br/><br/>He sighed at the fear ad terror that had spread through the tribes alongside a lust for blood.<br/>"So...to find their attackers..every tribe sent champions to represent them in the hunting party. Together there was the Earth moving Kuguar, the fiery maned Hume, an agile Hase, two swift Kyote brothers, and the suspicious Hyane scout. They set out together to find the ones who had hurt so many people, an ancient tribe that no one thought existed: The Cotl, Huge snakes that thought the world belonged to them and that every Warren tribe should be destroyed for being on their land..."<br/><br/>He could see the shock in Ituha's face. The Cotl had been mere legend even among her people. He nodded to her to confirm that he meant his words. "And that is only half the story..." he muttered with a chuckle.