The old man rolled himself forward a touch, letting more light fall onto his features. "You too seemed cursed with a competency above your station."
"Not if you ask my friends," Felix said with a half-smile. "Why did you want to talk to me? I appreciate the access to your healers, by the way."
The Farwalker waved his hand. "That's no matter. You spared the life of my neophyte when she most assuredly would not have spared yours. That is worth a great deal to me."
"NeoWyvora," Felix said and looked at the woman. She was kneeling beside him, forehead pressed to the ground. More details connected. "She's your apprentice? A...what's it calleda Farhunter?"
He smiled, and his dark eyes crinkled with a web of fine lines. "Indeed. My people are nomads, wanderers. This is our tradition. Yet there is a duality to my people, Journeyman Nevarre. We wander around the Continent, but each place we stop, we build as if we'd lived there for years. Often we stay a long time as we search for that which gives us purpose."
"I noticed this place looks very...permanent," Felix said.
"Our encampments can be built in a night, owing to our great Skills and Blessings," he said. "When we choose to leave, they are designed to return to the Great Wilds within a fortnight."
"That's really impressive," Felix said, eyebrows raised. So the outpost we found might already be gone. Interesting.
"Your praise is quite gracious," the Farwalker inclined his head. "To answer your unspoken question, Farhunters are those that seek out and find threats to our people before they may come upon us. It is a...difficult calling, but one which Wyvora takes to with vigor."
"So I've seen," Felix said. He could feel the Farhunter's Spirit thrum with delight and shame in equal measure. Weird lady. "She risked the wrath of the Reforgedthe ice warriorsand their allies to attack us."
The Farwalker frowned, a stark change to the mildly pleased expression he'd maintained so far. Wyvora's Spirit quailed. "She grows incautious. That is..." He closed his eyes. "I apologize on her behalf, Felix Nevarre. I have ensured your people have the healing they require, but I would offer you another boon for the trouble this one has caused you."
"That's...really kind of you," Felix said carefully. "We're really only passing through. We have business at the other end of the Foglands. I'd ask"
"Think a moment," the Farwalker said as he rolled himself closer to the center of the room. To the glowing brazier and crystalline Mana lattice. "I'd rather your boon not be asked for in haste."
"Okay..." Felix let the word draw out, his Mind turning. The guy was right. Better to make the most of this favor. "You've been attacked by the Reforged."
"We have."
"Why? And since when?"
The old man rubbed his jowls with a calloused hand. "Nearly a fortnight."
Felix frowned. That was after the attack on Haarwatch. Which meant either some had survived long enough to escape, or the Archon was sending more out. "How many have you seen?"
"Is this your boon? Information on the ice warriors and their Master?" the Farwalker asked and nodded when Felix's eyes widened. "I know of them, of him that dwells beneath the mountain."
Pit growled, and at first Felix thought he was mad at the old man. He had almost chided the tenku when the door behind him was thrown open.
"Farwalker! We have come to speak!" The Matriarch swept in, now wearing blue and gold robes and a series of gold combs in her elaborate hair. She was followed by a coterie of Henaari, each dressed far more modestly in pale greens and blues.
"You honor me, Tava. It is not often that my home is blessed by the presence of the Matriarch and the Synod." The Farwalker bowed in his seat, but Felix noticed his faceand his presencewas once again hidden. Felix could see the man and his chair, but it felt like if he stopped looking, the Farwalker would simply vanish. It was unsettling.
One of the Matriarch's people bowed in return, a woman with steel-gray hair and fine lines on her face. "Farwalker Qzik. We apologize for barging in, unannounced like this"
"Quiet, Fyszal. You do not answer to him," the Matriarch said. "We have come to claim satisfaction for your...guest."
The darkened head of the Farwalker tilted from one side to the other. "Truly? Why?"
"Because it is tradition," she crowed, and the Synod bobbed their heads in agreement. "These Humans have accosted our people, and what's more, this boy has claimed the Right of Wander! A Right that only those chosen by the Endless Raven may invoke! I would that he face punishment for such bold action. I demand it."
Murmured agreement filled the yurt, and Wyvnora even sat up from her kowtow. Her face was nervous. A'zek, however, laughed loudly. Several of the Synod jumped in fright.
"Ridiculous. The Raven does not pick and choose those that follow her. All are welcome, for all may seek to bring the unknown to light." A'zek bared his panther-like teeth at the Matriarch. "All who do so may invoke the Right."
"Tell me, Felix Nevarre, have you brought the hidden to light? Have you looked into the dark corners of our world and emerged anew, filled with knowledge and purpose?" The Farwalker's voice was hypnotic, perhaps due to his odd stealth ability, or something else. Felix flared his Bastion of Will, but nothing was assaulting his Mind or Spirit. Felix decided, then, to simply answer truthfully.
"I have."
"That means little!" the Matriarch insisted. "How could one honor our Raven without knowing of her blessed existence?"
The lady seemed hell-bent on punishing Felix, and he really doubted it was because he'd bound and gagged a couple guards. More politics, he thought. Great. Where's Vess? She'd know how to get outta this.
"Felix Nevarre. Did you know of the Endless Raven before you ventured into the dark?" the Farwalker asked. Intoned, was more like it, as if it were part of a ritual.
"Uh, yeah. I found" Felix stuttered, his mouth about to utter 'a Henaari corpse' and he swerved away from that. "I once found a ring called Gathered Light, crafted by the dawnspeakers."
Several of the Synod looked surprised, but the Matriarch scoffed. "Likely, looted from the dead."
"That is valid before the Raven's eye," the Farwalker stated. "You of all should know this."
The woman turned a very interesting shade of purple as a vein throbbed at her temple. The Synod were suspiciously quiet. Felix desperately wanted to roll his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to avoid the undercurrents he had begun to sense.
"I'm not looking to inconvenience everyone," Felix began. "My team and I are on our way through the Foglands, and we plan to continue as soon as possible. I'm...sorry I restrained your guards. They were rude, though, and one of them cut my shirt." Felix fingered the small rent in his sleeve. "Once my people are healed, we'll be on our way."
"...meets the requirements..."
"...not without a Blessing, he..."
Felix got the impression none of them were listening. This time he did roll his eyes. He glowered at the Matriarch, who glared right back.
"He must face her himself," she said.
The Synod's conversation ground to a halt, all of them looking at the Matriarch with worried expressions. Wyvora too. The Farwalker merely looked...bored.
"All in favor?" The Matriarch pushed her decision further, scowling at the other women around her. Slowly, one hand after another rose into the air, until it was unanimous save for the Farwalker himself.
"Are you sure, Tava?" he asked quietly.
"Oh, I am," the woman said. The gold combs in her hair gleamed as she tossed her head back. "This Felix Nevarre will face the Endless Raven herself."
Felix blinked. "I'm sorry?"