by Renee "Kindrianna" Booke
Deep within the swamps of
Voraniss, the Kul’Matha still pay homage to the serpent spirit Ekkaku. Upon the
banks of the Nathair’uncain, the Serpent’s Channel, sits Ekkaku’s shrine,
watching over every voyage and every crossing. To the Kul’Matha, this is a holy
site, and out of respect for Ekkaku, they do not indulge in their darker vices upon
this ground. Waging war, or the spilling of blood, is not what Ekkaku stood
for, and so it is thusly forbidden for any tribe to disrespect the serpent’s seat
of power in such a manner. The Kul’Matha do not agree on much, but Ekkaku is
their common ground, and if they must make peace or gather to converse on controversial
tribal affairs, they will often journey to this place to do so.
For many years this was all that the mortal races of
Voraniss knew about Ekkaku. The end of the story. But an unexpected alliance between
Voraniss and Xale’an of the Uthi Tribe, fostered by heroes of the Realms,
presented a unique opportunity to learn beyond the scattered reports of daring
scouts who had braved the dangers of the swamps. As Xale’an explained, Ekkaku had
grown up as a member of the Troxl Tribe, the very same as Otugu, one of the
other Kul’Matha that had accompanied her to the Druid King’s coronation. Within
Kul’Matha society, the Troxl are widely regarded as authorities in alchemy and
medicine, a tradition largely accredited to Ekkaku’s genius. Back then,
however, the Troxl were a smaller group, choosing to remain neutral in most of
the large-scale conflicts that consumed Kul’Matha culture.
The Troxl would stalk the battlefields after a skirmish,
carrying their baskets of herbs with them as they searched for wounded to
treat. They would heal who they could and send them off to fight another day. Sometimes
they would receive small gifts as recompense; trophies, trinkets, a meal, or a
good story, but by and large the gratitude, they felt, was sufficient. In this
way, they made themselves invaluable, and it afforded them some protection from
the larger tribes that normally would have seized upon the opportunity to wipe
out a weaker clan and claim their territory. It was on one such occasion that
Ekkaku would meet Notl-Nuhtletl, a young warrior who dreamed of becoming a
champion of Kul’Mathanigalurgtha, the Mother Serpent.
Notl-Nuhtletl had been wounded in battle against the Krezazu,
a faction of Kul’Matha who were greatly feared by all who knew them. The
Krezazu practiced dark and forbidden magics, magics that pulled not from the
earth or the Mother Serpent, but from the deepest reaches of the Otherworld,
the realm of spirits. There they had found a being that promised them ancient knowledge
and power over death. The Krezazu would pay for this power with blood, sending thirteen
souls a season to the Otherworld to solidify their dark pact, and seal the
agreement. This entity of the Otherworld would not accept ordinary souls,
however. It had a taste for the sick and vulnerable. It required of the Krezazu
that they bring only the souls of those who were suffering under the curse of illness
or disease. Luckily for Notl-Nuhtletl, she had not been one of the chosen sacrifices,
and the Krezazu had left her to die a warrior’s death and succumb to her
wounds.
Ekkaku discovered her in this weakened state and healed
Notl-Nuhtletl; and she, in turn, told the Troxl of the growing threat of the
Krezazu. With each passing month, she said, their desire for the power of the
Otherworld grew stronger. They neglected their lands, she explained, and their
swamps had begun to rot. They had either not noticed, or cared, that their air
had turned to poison, where ash fell instead of rain, and their streams were
sickly and green. If something was not done, and soon, Notl-Nuhtletl feared the
pestilence that plagued the Krezazu would come for them all.