Late in 1380, soon after the new town ring for Kallila has been created, a massive army of the horse-spawn arrive at the town and surround it. They do not attack but it is clear that they intend to do so. Out of desperation we decide to send a delegation to them to offer marriage between our tribal king, Tonalang and the Feathered Horse Queen. The idea is to achieve a permanent peace between the Orlanthi of Dragon Pass and the horse-spawn. At first the horse-spawn are incredulous and derisive. But then as they discuss the idea among themselves, it appears that they too have a similar prophecy that such an event would one day come to pass. They withdraw and say that they will send word of our proposal to their queen.
Early the next year, we receive word that the queen is receptive to our proposal and the entire clan ring travels to finally meet face to face with the queen. We present the queen with gifts and she accepts Tonalang as a suitor. However she says that there is a series of tests that he must first pass and that we may learn of these tests at the Hidden Temple of Maran Gor where dwells the earth crone Ferena Brooslayer. As we take our leave, we also learn that Tonalang is not the only suitor. The king of Colymar tribe is another suitor as is the king of the kingdom of Tarsh. We assure the others that the contest will be a fair one. These words, plus the glowing reputation of our clan, persuades them to make similar assurances.
The next season, Tonalang makes his way to the Hidden Temple. Maran Gor is the sister of Ernalda and indeed our clan has a shrine devoted to her. When we arrive, we remind the crone of our good relations with the goddess and so she willingly tells us of the three tasks that Tonalang must complete. First, he must tame the dragon. Next, he must win the favor of the Brass Man. Finally, he must mate with the mountain and win the blessing of the goddess Kero Fin.
We know of no dragon however so we return to our tula and do nothing. In the Fire season, word reaches us that a dragon has attacked the Squat Oak clan of the Torkani clan. Tonalang duly goes there, together with some of our greatest weaponthanes. It seems however that taming the dragon does not mean besting it in combat as the dragon is all but invincible, yet our clan has never been dragon friends. Finally, Tonalang challenges the dragon to a riddling contest. This piques the dragon’s interest and he replies that simply asking the question is sufficient to forestall him from attacking. And so we have “tamed” a dragon in an unexpected manner.
In the Earth season we hear of a brass man seen walking in the footpaths in the Quivini Mountains. Tonalang travels there, bringing with him one of minor treasures of our clan as a gift. The gift delights the brass man, who turns out to be dwarf wearing ornate armor. He mutters something about this being sufficient materials and absent-mindedly says that we have his favor, whatever that means.
This done, Tonalang must go to Mount Kero Fin, reputedly the home of the goddess who is the mother of Orlanth himself. Before this, we perform divination rituals to learn what we must do. The ancestor spirits tell us that Tonalang must remove all of his clothes and enter the mountain, which is interpreted as literally mating with the earth. Tonalang does so in the Sea season of 1382 and is blessed by the magic of Kero Fin. It appears that Tonalang is the only one of the three suitors who have passed all three tests for he is alone when he once again goes to see the Feathered Horse Queen. She tells him that they already know he has passed the tests and that the wedding would take place in the Earth season.
And as promised when the season arrives Tonalang is married to the queen and becomes King of Dragon Pass, uniting all of the Orlanthi clans with the Horse-Spawn. The ceremony is officiated by an emissary of the dragonkind which ensures the longevity of the new kingdom. This ushers in a new age of prosperity and magic. It is said that the deeds of the future kings and queen of this kingdom will become legend and change the face of the entire world itself. And all this from a small clan that arrived in Dragon Pass 53 years ago.
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