Epilogue

For many years after the Cataclysm the tribe lived a life not terribly different from its earlier existence. Indeed, of all the peoples of Krynn, perhaps the Kagonesti adjusted best to the loss of civilization's icons. Cities fell, empires vanished, vast estates were washed away by rains-and still the forests thrived.

Pathfinder Iydahoe played the Ram's Horn to mark the passing of the seasons, the rituals of the hunt, the time- honored celebrations of the tribe. Often he played for no reason other than to raise music to the fact of his people's survival. The tribe again knew health and happiness… and love.

Iydahoe and Vanisia were the first to take the vows of marriage, pledging timeless love to each other in a celebration cheered by all the wild elves of the tribe. Shortly afterward, Dallatar and Kagwallas became warriors, receiving their ritual tattoos from Vanisia. The ever-serious Bakall made many journeys into the surrounding lands, becoming a hunter of great skill and, under the tutelage of Iydahoe, patience.

In the decades that followed, Bakall even traveled far to the west, past Qualinesti, and learned that other wild elves lived there-the tribe of the Newsea was not the only gathering of the Kagonesti. Indeed, these other wild elves knew of still more tribes in the east. Bakall returned home as a famous scout, his body covered by the tattoos of a veteran warrior, and he brought with him a young bride from one of the coastal tribes.

Dallatar married Ambra in the same year that Iydahoe and Vanisia's first son was born. Two more births were soon expected, as Dallatar and Bakall strutted about with the universal pride of expectant fathers.

Iydahoe played his horn, and he knew that the Kagonesti would survive. His fear was gone forever, vanished in the same convulsion that had swallowed Istar. But his joy came from an even greater knowledge, the truth that-as the wild elves made new homes in the forest, as they stalked and roamed through lands they had never seen- once more the tribe would know peace and would grow.


Загрузка...