Jag had found their purpose: not to conquer the land, but to root the clans back into it. They would domesticate the wild beasts—not as prey, but as partners. They would learn to ferment, to weave, to build homes that breathed with the wind. They would fall in love with a curious healer from the River Clan, trade stories with a gruff Forest Walker, and teach the children of Pacha how to listen when the land goes quiet.
That first spring, Jag did not just plant seeds—they sang to them, as Torben had sung to the mammoths. They built a simple hut beside the lake, placed a stone for their father at the center, and planted a single wild squash seed. Orun nudged the soil with his trunk. roots of pacha jag
But the seasons grew cruel. The cold lingered, the herds thinned, and whispers of a rival clan—the —reached Torben’s ears. The Stone Fist did not follow. They took. They trapped rivers, set fires to flush game, and left scarred earth behind. One bitter winter, they ambushed the Fang Clan’s hunting party. Torben held them back, buying time for Jag and the others to flee with Orun and the remaining mammoths. Jag watched their father disappear beneath a storm of spears. Jag had found their purpose: not to conquer
Grief-stricken and lost, Jag led the remnants of their clan south, following a strange, persistent warmth Orun seemed to sense. After weeks of wandering, they crested a ridge and saw it: a vast, sun-drenched valley, cradled by mountains. A great lake sparkled at its center. Wild grains swayed in the breeze. The land was so full of life, so loud with Pacha’s hum, that Jag fell to their knees. They would fall in love with a curious
And one day, when the Stone Fist’s scouts appeared on the eastern pass, seeking to claim the valley, Jag would not meet them with spears. Jag would meet them with Orun at their side, a basket of golden corn in their hands, and the full, united strength of a clan that had learned to thrive.
Jag, however, recognized the symptom. The Grey Rot was not magic—it was an imbalance. The Stone Fist, in their greed, had overhunted the eastern lands and poisoned a source-river. The sickness was spreading into Pacha’s heart.
The elders offered Jag a place, but not a welcome. “You bring a mammoth and grief,” said of the Hearth Clan. “Prove you can heal, not just survive.”