“To still be remembered even after a long time is a pleasant feeling indeed.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
“That was easier than I expected,” admitted Rhys after Aideen pointed out that they should be entering Clan Bloodfang’s territory soon. The group had spent the past few days walking through the prairie while keeping themselves out of sight to avoid trouble, given the hostilities between the orcs of the plains and the Empire to its south. “I had thought we would need to hide and stop more often, given… well… all this open space here.”
“It is that same openness that made it easy for us to slip past, Rhys,” replied Aideen with a knowing smile. “It took four to five days for a patrol to go through the perimeter of just a part of a clan’s territory. That’s how vast these prairies are. When I spotted the droppings of their mount and noticed that they were around three days or so ahead of us, I knew it would be easy passage through this region.”
“What about the other Clan, though?” asked Eilonwy in turn.
“The orcish clans have this sort of honor system in that they tend to avoid having their patrols meet. If one side is patrolling this part of their territory, the other side wouldn’t be doing that until perhaps the week after or so,” explained Aideen. “The only exception is when conflict is desired. In which case they’d have the patrols pass on the news to the clan for them.”
“That seems to go against every military treatise I’ve ever read, Aunt Aideen,” Áine couldn’t help but note.
“The orcs, at least the ones from the clans here, are open and straightforward folk. Subterfuge and dishonesty don’t even cross their minds, I’m pretty sure, though naturally they would not extend the same courtesy when they were truly at war, like when they fight against the Empire for example,” replied Aideen. “When dealing amongst themselves though, they’re some of the most open and aboveboard people I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“It’s refreshing to live amongst them, to be honest. They’re often honest to a fault, but you can’t help but find that simple openness endearing,” she continued with a nostalgic look on her features. “It’s nice to not have to worry about plots or intrigue for once and being able to take everything at face value instead. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if the so-called civilized life most people lead was worth the sacrifices made since we’d no longer find such simple honesty there more often than not.”
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“It’s something to consider, yeah,” nodded Celia in agreement. She had been with Aideen during the decades when they lived amongst the northern orcs and shared a lot of the same views regarding the sometimes crude but straightforward people.
“It shouldn’t take more than a few more days before we run into some Bloodfangs now that we’re headed deeper in their territory,” stated Aideen confidently. “It’s late spring now so they should be in this region. Remember to keep your guard up just in case, though they generally wouldn’t attack you without warning, especially since you’re elven. They’d probably think of you as some of the Greentusks.”
“They’re the only elves that live in this region and assimilated with the local culture, no?” queried Áine, to which Aideen nodded in reply. “I’m pretty interested in seeing how they live if we get a chance to visit them.”
“It should be easy enough to arrange, especially since we’re staying here a while anyway. We’ll need to go around a bit, so having the Bloodfangs vouch for us ahead of time will make things much less complicated,” said Aideen. “That's why we’re heading for them first.”
True to Aideen’s words, they ran into a bloodfang clan patrol in the evening of the next day, just when the sun started to set. The patrol was not very different from the group Aideen and Celia met back in the day, though they didn’t have any obviously overpowering personage amongst them like Orica back then. It was just eight orcish youths on their respective mounts that halted and went into readiness the moment they noticed the group approaching.
To be fair, the group noticed the orcs before the orcs noticed the group, since the siblings had sharper eyesight and saw them from further away.
“Hail, valiant warriors of clan Bloodfang,” Aideen greeted in fluent northern orcish dialect, which clearly took the young orcs by surprise, since it was plainly visible on their faces. “I greet you as an old friend of the clan,” Aideen continued as she raised a pendant high in her hand. The pendant had a beast’s fang hanging where a jewel would normally be. “Though I know not if you still remember of me. It has been generations since I last shared home and hearth with your clan.”
Her words caused the surprised orcs to discuss amongst themselves for a while. The pendant was one Aideen received from the clan during her previous stay, one that signified that while she was not of the clan, she was nonetheless considered a honorary member of it. The orcish clans only gave such pendants to those they considered true friends, and given their relative isolation, most such tokens would be in the hands of other orcs from different clans rather than true outsiders like Aideen.
After a few minutes of discussion, one of the youths rode up towards Aideen’s group, his empty hands raised with the palms open, a gesture to indicate that he was there for peaceful reasons. The young orc rode a large feathered lizard with beautiful rainbow feathers, though the brilliant plumage did little to hide the lethal predator underneath.
“Might you be the eternal with the silver hair that great shaman Miro often spoke of? The one the humans to the south call… the maiden in silver, I believe?” asked the orc to Aideen with a curious look on his face.