The wolves kept following me today as I moved through the woods, but kept their distance and so I had no reason to chant. Regretably, my wandering through the woods after dusk cost me my sense of direction. I decided to trust on instinct and strike out in a general direction that felt 'right' and hope for a clearing in the woods so that I might draw upon the sun to guide me.
It was early afternoon that I had my first indication I might be heading in more or less the right direction, slightly to the south east, rather than east. I changed course and headed eastward to the cliffs.
As the woodland started to slope down towards the cliffs, I noticed the wolves peel away at speed, as if something had startled them.
I cannot explain what happened next, but I knew then that I was very near my goal. I felt something, a presence, not wholly disimilar to what I felt when I first entered the Mithraeum and found my ancestor. A presence both familiar and yet new to me, something strangely primal.
Then through the trees, I caught sight of something moving in the shadows. A large beast, but this was no wolf. In the afternoon light I glimpsed gold and dark markings and a sinuous, yet powerful form. I sensed that it was watching me, that it had been waiting so I would know I was in the right place.
I moved towards it, but it only slunk further away into the trees. Yet as I did so, I found myself on a path that went down towards the cliffside. Not a well trodden path, but it had the air of being maintained.
I followed it down through the woods until the trees thinned and I came at last to the cliffside and the place I sought.
A house or hut, which was in part rebuilt from an old imperial manor. Structurally sound and doors and shutters both in a good state of repair. There was no marking outside the door to indicate whose home this was, but I knew. I also knew what I would find within.
I stood outside the door for what seemed like the longest time as the sun set.
Eventually I stepped forward, undid the latch and let myself into the interior.
As I had been told, above the hearth was written the name MacConnell. A note on the table simply read "Be Welcome."
Then I looked around the room and my eye was drawn to the woodwork and what had been painstakingly, lovingly, crafted there.
And so my first act upon reaching the home of Hengist "Jaguar" MacConnell, my King, was to weep.
It was early afternoon that I had my first indication I might be heading in more or less the right direction, slightly to the south east, rather than east. I changed course and headed eastward to the cliffs.
As the woodland started to slope down towards the cliffs, I noticed the wolves peel away at speed, as if something had startled them.
I cannot explain what happened next, but I knew then that I was very near my goal. I felt something, a presence, not wholly disimilar to what I felt when I first entered the Mithraeum and found my ancestor. A presence both familiar and yet new to me, something strangely primal.
Then through the trees, I caught sight of something moving in the shadows. A large beast, but this was no wolf. In the afternoon light I glimpsed gold and dark markings and a sinuous, yet powerful form. I sensed that it was watching me, that it had been waiting so I would know I was in the right place.
I moved towards it, but it only slunk further away into the trees. Yet as I did so, I found myself on a path that went down towards the cliffside. Not a well trodden path, but it had the air of being maintained.
I followed it down through the woods until the trees thinned and I came at last to the cliffside and the place I sought.
A house or hut, which was in part rebuilt from an old imperial manor. Structurally sound and doors and shutters both in a good state of repair. There was no marking outside the door to indicate whose home this was, but I knew. I also knew what I would find within.
I stood outside the door for what seemed like the longest time as the sun set.
Eventually I stepped forward, undid the latch and let myself into the interior.
As I had been told, above the hearth was written the name MacConnell. A note on the table simply read "Be Welcome."
Then I looked around the room and my eye was drawn to the woodwork and what had been painstakingly, lovingly, crafted there.
And so my first act upon reaching the home of Hengist "Jaguar" MacConnell, my King, was to weep.
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