Thankfully, the fire still burns in the back of the cave.
The Elder sleeps, his breath rattling in his chest.
Ruti and Natan are wide awake and both start yelling when they see you and your brood.
“You are alive!! You came back!”
Anzollash looks up in frightened hope.
You quickly unlock the cage and their bonds. The three totter weakly out and are attended to by the brood medics, all of whom are your cousins of varied degree. Wrapped in furs and fed with hot meat soup from stone jugs, they begin to gain their strength.
But the Elder slumps to the floor, exhaling. You smell the stench of sickness as your father catches him by his armpits.
“Come,” he motions to your cousins. They gently place him on a stretcher and wrap him in furs.
Anzollash’s eyes fill yet again with tears. “What of my father?” she softly asks.
Your father turns to where Ragna still hangs. He hisses when he sees the wound. The body has started to stink and rot, its eyes disintegrating.
“I knew your father,” he answers, cold anger in his voice. “It was to me you were to come.”
Four Yeti surround you as you open his cuffs. They catch the body in a woven sheet of moss and grass. They wrap it around him and leave the cave to prepare him for burial. The brood stands silent to witness the procession.
When they are gone, you tell your brood about the weapons and show them the container. As they search the cave for similar items, you hear angry growls and snorts of disgust, especially at the cage. After a few minutes, they dump a stash of strange weapons at your father’s feet.
An unnatural squawk emits from somewhere near side of the fire, making you jump. Cautiously, you approach it. You find a black box with a stick rising from its top surface.
“Team 3!” It shouts. “Team 3! Do you copy? Over!”
You all look at each other in dismay.
“We need to go,” your father states. “More of them will come. But our brood cave is well-hidden.”
He nods to the recently freed Yeti. “You will be safe with us. But on the morrow, we go to the Lair… after we bury Ragna.”
To The Lair
The brood quickly works together to transform the filthy cave into a warm, welcoming camp.
After a night spent sleeping in toasty furs and good food filling their bellies, the freed Yeti are stronger and ready to make the journey to the Lair. The Elder, however, will have to be brought back to the brood cave on a stretcher to attend to his wounds. He slips in and out of consciousness, muttering in his dreams of darkness.
On the way to both the brood cave and the Lair is one of the consecrated peaks that have been the Yeti sky burial ground since the dawn of time.
You and your cousin, Bija, scale the sheer mountain face leading to it, your paws naturally finding its aeons-carved footholds.
Then, you throw down a well-used pulley mechanism to which the two Yeti below attach Ragna’s corpse. They tie the ropes tightly, weaving them into the burial shroud which has twisted, strong holes at head and foot made specifically for this purpose.
You watch as the corpse it slowly make its way up the mountain, dangling in the air, tossed by the howling winds. You and your family below fight to keep the pulley operational in the face of both the gravity and the winds.
After a time that seems interminable, Ragna’s corpse reaches its final destination. You disattach Ragna’s corpse from its ropes. With a final head bow of respect, Bija and you leave him to his rest.
As you make your way back down the mountain, your father looks at you expectantly. The rest of the brood stands silent.
You nod, “It is done.”
As brood leader, your father conducts the sky burial rite. The wind carries his somber voice through the surrounding mountains.
“Streaks of gold
From blazing sun
Take the soul
Of this loved one
Bring him to the clouds to rest
No longer is he put to test
Eternity of joy and peace
Should be the fate of this deceased.”
Now, you must part from your brood and continue the journey to the Lair. It is decided that your father and several of your strongest brothers and cousins will accompany you and the freed Yeti. You are happy Bija is amongst the ones your father chooses. The rest of the brood will return home and fortify the cave against attackers. You say your farewells and watch as the rest of your brood grows smaller and smaller in the distance.
Read more Legendao Lore:
The Premise
Introduction of the three Yeti
Kwaneg
Mahukwa
Richter
The Prelude — The Roar and the Lair:
Chapter 1: — The Cave
Chapter 2: — The Trail & The Cliff
Chapter 3: — The Lake
Chapter 4: — The Way Home
