Ch'thyr'kahh R' Hirogen
Translated (Starfleet Standard [SFS]): Scroll of the Hirogen
Remett
Translated (SFS): Seven
Into the Wild,
Remoor the First led His council.
They had spoken after leaving N'noka, and
They had agreed that, at the words of Taxiss,
The Hunters would be known throughout
All of Etutheria as
The 'Brotherhood of Remoor.'
Time was short,
As Gratta was waiting.
Remoor was most interested in two
Of His brethren,
Thurn and Taxiss.
In Thurn,
Remoor saw the strength of many Hirogen.
Thurn was cunning
For Remoor could see it in his eyes
When he looked into the Wild.
Thurn was agile
For Remoor could see it in his movement.
In so few risings alive,
Remoor knew that Thurn had already smelled
The Scent of Prey in the Hunt.
In Taxiss,
Remoor saw the leadership of coming days.
Taxiss was intelligent
For Remoor had heard it in his words.
In so few risings alive,
Taxiss knew all of the names of
Etutheria's places, beasts, and growths.
Taxiss was outspoken
For Remoor had seen him keeping the peace
Amongst the Hirogen.
In the Wild,
Remoor guided the two to a secret place,
The Grove of Portellion
(A red flower heavily populating the stretch),
And He spoke to His special brethren
Under the quiet trees.
'Brothers,'
He said.
'You must hear my words privately
In the Grove, and
They must become your own
For the days after today,
And the days long beyond tomorrow,
Will belong to the likes of
Thurn and Taxiss.'
'The Hirogen have spoken, and
Remoor the First will ever preside
Over the Brotherhood,'
Taxiss said.
Remoor's heart was heavy.
'The people Hirogen were given to me
By Gratta,
But I have no desire to possess
A world of Hunters.'
'Remoor shall lead us into tomorrow,'
Thurn insisted.
'My days with the Brotherhood will be few,'
Remoor said.
'Hear me, and know that it is the wish
Of Remoor the First that these words
Become your own counsel.
My days will be few, but
They will serve purpose.
Beginning,
I will guide the two of you
In the Ways of the Hunt
As, even today, the two of you
Are showing greater understanding
Than so many of your brethren.'
'I will not hear this,'
Thurn insisted.
'Remoor will always lead the Brotherhood.'
'My days will the Brotherhood will be short,'
He said.
'Mighty Thurn, still your tongue
For I have no doubt that
Gratta, He Who Governs,
Will see to my death,
As I have no intention of Hunting
All of the Irro.'
'The Hirogen will not allow
The Way of Gratta
To bring harm to Remoor the First,'
Thurn said.
'The Brotherhood of Remoor
Will stand in His way.
He will find no land to govern here.'
'But, Remoor,'
Taxiss reasoned, as he had shown the skills,
'Gratta has demanded the Irro of you.
What He Who Governs asks of Remoor,
He Who Governs asks of the Hirogen.'
Remoor agreed.
'What would you do, thoughtful Taxiss,
Should Gratta ask that you
Hunt your brethren until they are no more?'
Silence fell over Thurn and Taxiss.
'To defy He Who Governs was never in my mind,'
Remoor said.
'An Irro will be hunted.
Thoughtful Taxiss, each of us has a path
Placed before him
In the Wild.
Each must study the road before traveling.
Each must see the turns in the route.
Each must caution the rise and fall of the soil
So that he knows whether or not he can pass.
In the end, each must choose whether to
Enter the path
Or to stay his feet.'
Enraged, Thurn turned away.
'You have chosen to stay your feet,'
The Hirogen said.
'You ignore the Hunt.'
'I ignore He Who Governs,'
Remoor said.
'Mighty Thurn,
Gratta did not breath life unto my mouth.
Still,
I have granted him penance for the deed.
Gratta did not embrace all of the Wild,
But I have given my allegiance to Him
As if N'noka itself were His idea.
In My haste,
I have forsaken Etutheria,
My Lifebringer and yours.'
'In doing so, you must ignore the Hunt,'
Thurn said.
'There is no other way.'
'As I have said,
The Wild has many paths.
Brother, I am Hirogen,'
Remoor said, His words stronger this time,
Causing His brethren to face Him.
'In my nose, I smell the Prey.
In my mind, I see the path.
In my blood flows the Hunt.'
A stillness came from the Wild,
As Etutheria itself
Was shaken.
'Mighty Thurn, stay your feet,'
Remoor ordered.
'I give you my word.
I will not ignore the call,
But I will not Hunt the Irro.
You shall,
And you will stay your hand after a single kill.'
'Remoor, you must teach us the way,'
Taxiss said.
'We have many risings of Etu,'
He said.
Remoor smiled,
The heaviness of His thought
Finally lifted from His breast.
'First, we must discuss
The fate of Gratta.'
Hidden away in the
Grove of Portellion,
Secreted away from the rest
Of the Brethren,
Remoor the First,
Thurn and Taxiss
Spoke at length
Of the events yet to come.
'As sure as blood flows
Through all of me,
I fear that
Etutheria will find no lasting peace
So long has Gratta lives,'
Remoor said.
Their heads bowed,
Thurn and Taxiss agreed.
'He Who Governs did not create Etutheria,'
Remoor said.
'Nor did he create the K'rta,
The loving K'rta,
That he had me destroy.
Nor did he create the Irro,
The graceful Irro,
That He would have us
Feast upon
Until the very last drop of blood
From the very last Irro alive
Was spilled in the Shanklands.'
Their heads bowed,
Thurn and Taxiss agreed.
'My brothers,
Ours is a world without blessing,'
Remoor concluded.
'Through a darkness so foul,
So dense,
We must together find our way.'
'What would you have us do?'
Thurn asked,
His head raised,
His eyes fixed.
'Remoor,
What would have of me?'
Pleased,
Remoor nodded.
He knew that his choice
To trust Thurn,
To trust Taxiss,
Was full of the wisdom
Granted and
Blessed
By Etutheria's light,
Etu itself.
'Mighty Thurn,
Your part in this Hunt will be simple,'
Remoor said.
'Of it,
I have already spoken.
When Etu is fixed
At the precise moment
In the sky,
You will kill
A single Irro.
No more,
No less,
But a single Irro.'
'Remoor the First,
Have you lost your
Scent for the Hunt?'
Taxiss asked.
'My intentions are plain,
Thoughtful Taxiss,
As I have already
Made them so.
The same desire for freedom
That flows in
Your Hirogen blood
Flows in mine,'
Remoor said.
'As for this Hunt,
I will take one life.
Be it my own,
I accept the Cruel Fates.
Be it another,
I accept the leadership
Of the Brethren.'
Remoor saw
That Taxiss and Thurn
Looked at him
With their eyes
Full of curiosity.
'Thoughtful Taxiss,'
Remoor said,
'This Hunt may cost
Nothing less,
Nothing more
Than my very breath.'
Rising from his perch
On a stone in the
Grove of Portellion,
Thurn placed his hand
On Remoor's shoulder.
'By my blood,
I will not allow it,'
He said.
Remoor touched Thurn's hand, and
He nodded.
'You speak with force,
Mighty Thurn,
But a choice in this Hunt
You may not have.
Indeed,
My thoughts tell me
That I have little choice,'
Remoor said.
Thurn's gaze turned
From anger to hopeful.
'Then, Remoor the First,
That is the Hunt for me!
You have witnessed my strength!
You have seen me yield
A weapon
Such as Your Thunder,
Unyielding Thunder,
With the same grace!
The same ease!
The same desire!
This Hunt you speak of
Is mine!
One Hunt that defies my success
Is all a Hunter can ever hope for
In the length of his risings!'
'This Hunt,
Mighty Thurn,
Is not your concern,'
Remoor said.
'Instead, you would have me
Waste a swing at a halfling Irro?'
'No, Thurn,'
Remoor said.
'As I have proclaimed,
The part you are to play
In the Hunt
Has already been decided.'
The Hirogen leader turned
To face the second brother
Gathered at the secret meeting.
'It is Taxiss who now desires to know
What role
He will play in this Hunt.'
'It have been in my thoughts,
Remoor the First,'
Taxiss agreed.
Remoor sighed,
As he had grown weary.
The scent of Portellion
Eased his pain, and
He found the strength to
Continue.
'Mighty Thurn and Thoughtful Taxiss,
What I confess to you today
In the Grove of Portellion
I do so of my own freedom,'
Remoor said.
'I share it with you freely, and
I only ask of you to keep your tongue
About that which I am to share.
For ...
I fear I am nearing
The last of my days
On Etutheria.
I have disgraced her.
I have abandoned her.
I have dishonored her.
She owes me no allegiance, and
I have wrongfully
And mistakenly
Pledged mine to
He Who Governs.
If this Hunt is to be my last,
Then I,
With heavy heart but bright hope,
Do bequeath
The Leadership of the Brethren
To you, Thoughtful Taxiss,
And I would have Thurn
Serve
As the master to your counsel.
You are but two halves of a whole,
The whole of the Hirogen, and
The Brethren will need your spirit
To survive,
To understand,
To endure
The long days to come.'
'To me?'
Taxiss asked,
His hand trembling
On his breast.
'Remoor, you would have me
Lead our Brethren?
What know I of running a world?'
Remoor the First had anticipated
Taxiss's fear, as He realized
That,
In the beginning,
Remoor himself had felt the same
Disease.
'As the Cruel Fates would have it,
Thoughtful Taxiss,
You know as much as I
When I inherited the position from
Etutheria herself, no less,'
Remoor said.
'Mind you, that is not a curse.
It is a gift, and
I give it to you freely.
To question oneself is
To question life itself.
To doubt oneself is
To doubt only your worthiness.
But,
Thoughtful Taxiss,
I have seen your thoughts
Placed into actions, and
I know of no Hirogen
Finer suited
For the challenge
Of what lay ahead.
Fear and doubt
Are the ways of all good Hirogen,
Ones who will one day
Inherit the role of the First
From you
In the days to come.'
Thurn took his hand from Remoor, and
He placed it on Taxiss.
'Thoughtful Taxiss,
I would be honored
To serve you
In my life and,
If need be,
By my death.'
'It is decided,'
Remoor the First concluded.
'Now,
We must speak of darker affairs.'
After many long words
With Remoor the First and Thurn,
Taxiss agreed that it was he
Who should take the message
For peace
To the Irro.
So,
Remoor sent word
Into the wild that
Counsel would take place
Between Taxiss and Bandur,
The head of the Irro,
Near the edge of the Shanklands.
When the time was right and
Etu was high in the sky,
Taxiss stepped into the clearing
And saw the lone creature
Awaiting his arrival.
Bandur of the Irro
Met Taxiss, the Hirogen,
On the border of the Shanklands.
'As you well know,
The Irro have nothing
To say to you
Or your Brethren,'
Bandur said.
Trying to appear at ease
For his own sake
And for Bandur,
Taxiss sat upon a rock.
'I would still
Have words with you, Bandur,'
He said.
'If we do not,
You and your kind
May face a doom
Greater than that which befell the K'rta.'
Bandur reared its head,
Its six limbs clutching
The soil
Under their nails.
'A fate crueler than the K'rta?'
It asked,
The fur on its neck quivering.
'What trickery is this, Taxiss?
Do you jest for only my ears?
As Etu rises in the sky,
The K'rta are no more, and
As Etu rests on the ground,
The Hirogen are to blame.
Still,
You would call me into counsel
With the threat of a greater evil?
I can only laugh as I ask
What greater evil there may be
Than the death of an entire kind?'
'You are wise, Bandur,'
Taxiss reasoned,
As he had shown the skill.
'In truth,
There can be only
One greater evil, and that,
My wise friend,
Would be the death of Etutheria,
Herself.'
Bundar raised his head,
The mane of his strong neck
Trembling even greater
Than before.
'You think me a rock!'
It shouted.
'You think me the lifeless stone
If you expect I would believe the words
Of the betraying Hirogen!
Your Brethren are mighty, but
You are not mightier than a world itself!'
'Bandur,
You are wrong in thinking
That the Hirogen feel
Less of you
Than we do of ourselves
Or for our world,'
Taxiss said,
Showing his open hand
To the Irro
As a sign of kinship.
'Remoor the First was of the same blood, and
I am of the Blood of Remoor,
Meaning that you and the First
Are bound.
So am I bound to you.
Still,
There is a greater evil,
One the Cruel Fates have
Set for Etutheria.'
'What is worse than
The death of a kind?'
'The death of Etutheria,'
Taxiss said again.
'If Etutheria were to die,
Then all of us would follow.
But,
It is not the Hirogen
Who would make this happen.
It is no less than Gratta,
He Who Governs.'
The Irro clutched the ground, and
Taxiss opened his second hand as a
Greater sign of kinship.
'Hear me,
Gracious Bandur,
And then I will let you
And your kind
Reason for yourselves,'
Taxiss insisted.
'You know Remoor.
Indeed,
The First tells me that you were present
On his Birthing Day.
That would mean that you,
The Irro,
Know him far long than I,
Know him far better than I,
Know him far greater than I.
Think with your blood,
Gracious Bandur,
Not with your mind!
Would Remoor have willingly
Hunted the K'rta to death?
Would Remoor have willingly
Slain those who were his first brethren?
That which I know of him
Tells me that it could not happen,
It would not happen.
As the First has spoken plain
To me and to Thurn, the Mighty,
He was given no other choice
But to commit the deed.
It was Gratta's command.
If Remoor failed or if Remoor refused,
He Who Governs
Would have demanded even greater
Sacrifices from Etutheria herself!'
The Irro eased his talons
From loving Etu's soil.
'And now?'
Bandur asked.
'Now,
He Who Governs would have
Remoor and the Brotherhood
Slay
Every last Irro as food,'
Taxiss said.
'Am I to be the first?'
Bandur asked.
Taxiss breathed,
Knowing that the
Fate of a world
Had been placed in his hands.
'You are to be the only,'
He reasoned,
As he had shown the skill.
'The only?'
'If you would have it so,
Remoor is willing to present Gratta,
He Who Governs,
With a single slain Irro,'
Taxiss said.
'The God will be incensed!'
'If the Cruel Fates agree,
There is little that Remoor
Or you
Or I
Or any of the kinds of Etutheria
Can do to stop Gratta,'
Taxiss said.
'Even now, I feel it in my blood.'
'Then why would I agree?'
Bandur asked.
'Remoor wishes it to be a challenge to Gratta,'
Taxiss explained.
'The weight that would come from the challenge
Would be mighty if the single slain creature were
A dead Bandur, leader of the Irro,
Brother to Remoor the First.
The weight of the challenge
Might sway He Who Governs to hear our reason.'
'If not?'
Bandur asked.
'In the words of Remoor,
So long as Gratta governs,
Etutheria will never be free,'
Taxiss said.
He looked around the plains
And deep into the Shanklands,
Wondering how such beauty could be
Lost
At the whim of an angry God.
'In the fire that is the galaxy,
Dousing the flame of a single star
Would mean nothing
Unless the Galaxy itself
Is willing to risk all stars,
Large and small,
In growing cold.
If you would be our star,
Gracious Bandur,
Etutheria may become its own galaxy.'
In the calm of the Shanklands,
Bandur felt the winds of Etu
Lift the hairs on the back of his neck.
Peacefully,
Quietly,
Bandur stretched, its mind in thought, and
It sat on the rock beside Taxiss, the Hirogen.
'Thoughtful Taxiss,
Let me ask a single question of you,'
It said.
'You are indeed a reasoning creature, and
Your wisdom will lead me down the path
Into the Wild
Should you choose your words wisely.'
Bandur looked at the Hirogen.
'Should you not choose your words wisely
As you have done this far,
I will lead the Irro further
Into the Shanklands,
Further into the Great Beyond.
I will lead them so far that
None of your Hirogen brothers
Will ever scent them again.
You and your kind will be left
To deal with the vengeful wrath
Of an angry Gratta, and
He Who Governs will punish you
For your disobedience.
For, if you are here
With the blessings of Remoor,
Then you will choose
Your words
Wisely.'
The Hirogen lowered his hands and
Sat firmly on the rock.
'I await your question, Bandur,'
Taxiss said.
'If I allow my end
To come at the hands of a Hirogen,
Who will protect the Irro?'
It asked.
'They will be without leadership.
They will be without so much that
Has come before.
They will be stranded in the Shanklands
With no idea of the slaughter that
Is yet to come.'
Taxiss breathed.
He looked up at the sky,
Thinking for a time
Before venturing to speak.
'Bandur,'
He finally said.
'I will speak plain.
I have no desire
To mislead you
Or any of the Irro.
I am here, in your counsel,
For peace, not the Hunt.
Remoor the First has confided in me that,
Should he fail or should he succeed
In this endeavor,
He is doomed.'
'Doomed?'
It asked.
Taxiss looked at the Irro
Instead of the blue sky.
'While you might escape
The Cold of Death now,
It would only arrive later
By Gratta's hand,
In an act of anger,
As Remoor believes will be his Fate.
Whether you consent or decline,
Remoor believes he is doomed.
His challenge to Gratta will
Spell it clean.
One death today
May mean life for the Irro,
The Hirogen, and
All of Etutheria tomorrow,
But I fear this affair
Will end in more than
A single freakling growing cold.'
'You fear?'
It asked.
'You are Hirogen.
You know no fear.'
'You have said yourself,
Bandur,
That I choose my words wisely,'
Taxiss said.
'Fear is not beyond
My being.
Fear is part of my Blood.
It is part of the Brotherhood.
It is part of the Hunt.
It will forever be, sadly,
A part of life,
With or without the governance of
Gratta.
Still,
A road is safer traveled
Than merely tested,
For without the journey
We will neither know nor speak
Of the evil
That awaits us.'
Bandur rose.
'Remoor is plain,'
It said.
'He is the Irro Salvin.'
Confused,
Taxiss looked to the creature.
'I do not know this word, Salvin.'
It walked in a small circle,
Considering whether an answer
Was safe.
'Since our brethren, the K'rta,
Were slaughtered,
My kind have taken to following
A call other than the one
From Etutheria.
Some choose to name the call nothing, but
Others have called it Salvin.
Remoor has earned the title
Of Salvin for the Irro
In my mind.'
'Thank you, Bandur,'
Taxiss said.
'Remoor the First will be pleased
To learn that he still holds your respect.'
'Gratta will be displeased,'
It said.
'My only happiness in the Cold
Will come from knowing that the
Expression on Gratta's face
As he looks upon
My flesh growing to dust was
The fate I chose,
Not He Who Governs.'
Bandur looked to the nearby hills.
'What of the Irro?'
'Remoor has said
That they are to head
Upwards of the Path of Etu in the Sky,
Into the lands of Woolenly,'
Taxiss explained.
'Ah, Woolenly,'
It said.
'The ground is green at Woolenly,
I have heard it said
Among my brothers.'
'There,
The Irro will be protected by myself, and
Thurn, and the Brotherhood of Remoor,'
Taxiss said.
'By my Blood,
I give you my oath that
No harm will come of them.'
'Then bring your lance,'
Bandur said,
Sitting on the ground,
His claws relaxed.
'I wish to rid
Myself of this news.
I wish to rid myself
Of this burden
At once.
If this is the role I am to play,
Then I wish it to begin at once.'
Taxiss rose, and
He opened both palms in a show
Of kinship.
'I will summon Thurn,
Brave Bandur, and
I give you my word
That he will be swift.'
