Invasion story of the Shinse

Little ones ask for the Story

Gokhan must wipe tears from his eyes before beginning

He sits on the banks of Nagaco

And begins.

> “We once lived in a fat land
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> We ate fruit from trees, and the big Waachi that swam in the ocean
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> There was always enough—hunger was a stranger at our doors.
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> “Skara was a kinder place back then
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> Mist and cool sheltered us from Celem’s brilliance
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> Na-Shizu could live on the land then and children could wander alone.
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> “There was joy in everything then—in the training for war even.
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> It was merely the form, the pathway of happiness.
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> Blood rested not on our hands.
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> Even Durno children came to learn with ours the Arts of War and Self Control
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> The sayings of Lu Mīn, and the other Gokhanse.
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> “Then came the long darkness and the shaking
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> Terrible winds and falling earth.
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> Fire came down from on High
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> And all changed, like waking from a dream.
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> “The Waachi swam away from their homes to find new cool places.
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> The mist evaporated in the heat.
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> The fruits began to shrivel and the skin to burn.
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> Life became full of sorrow and misery.
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> But it was only the beginning.
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> “With the changes came a new Threat.
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> A people from the South,
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> Like reptiles they drew power from Celem
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> Like the heat they were merciless
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> Devouring all in their path.
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> Their menfolk developed a taste for our Na-Shizu
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> And carried them off to accomplish their will
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> They fought in groups, not like warriors with honou
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> “With long weapons they attacked
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> In heavy coverings they protected themselves,
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> A numerous army came to our towns
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> To Kunazem and the Coast
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> “In terror we turned to our friends, the Durno
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> We entreated them for help
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> To obey the terms of our Ancient Contract
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> “But they met us with coldness
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> “--Our blood was not their blood
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> Our lands not their concern
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> Where were we when the Joria fled? –they asked
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> Did we track them down and bring them back?
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> “Then they spoke of a land beyond the High Places
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> A land harsh and cruel, but empty and new.
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> We could go there—they would not lift against us their hand.
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> They even offered meal and leather coverings for the journey.
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> “Now we must decide—there would not be time later.
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> “So the elders spoke together—of all the signs:
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> Of Celem’s fury and his new fiery sons,
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> Of the shriveled fruit and the Waachi
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> “We took their bargain, we received their gifts.
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> By cover of night, when the Sons of Fire danced their fierce dance and made merry
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> We gathered who was left and we fled.
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> We did not look back.
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> “We came here to the Lake and to the Plain
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> And we made oaths to be a new people
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> To learn the lore of the open spaces
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> The language of the Lake Waachi and the prickly trees
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> To protect ourselves from Celem with new woven skin
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> “When the sons of the Snake came down from the High Places
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> With a hunger we had not seen, even in the Sons of Fire
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> We built Nagaco – City on the Lake
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> There we are safe—as long as we kept watch.
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> “We learned the lore of fighting in groups
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> Of traps and bait
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> How to walk great distances with neither food nor drink
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> How to fight in the cold and the dark.
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> “Though we grew and changed to be like the prickly trees of the plains
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> In our hearts we kept the secrets of our Birthplace
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> The softness of the fruit, the mist, and the taste of the fat Waachi
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> “That is why in your dreams you must remember that land
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> Feed it to your heart
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> And no matter what misfortune befalls you—you will then be forever Shinse
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