>>6303120>>6303141You commit to the southern path. The sun crawls up to its peak as you walk, the immense black pillar of stone your unmoving guide. The air grows still and heavy. The blades of grass stand unnaturally rigid, undisturbed by any breeze.
As you draw within a few hundred paces of the monolith, three figures resolve from the shimmering heat haze. They are not walking from the pillar, but standing beside it, as if on guard. They watch your approach.
You slow your pace, hand resting on the stone knife at your hip. The figures are tall and lean, their skin dark and painted with stark white and yellow symbols. They carry long, flint-tipped spears and rectangular shields of stretched hide. As you get closer, they do not raise their weapons. The one in the center, a man with a fearsome scar across one eye, raises an open palm. A sign of peace.
You stop a respectful distance away and return the gesture.
The lead warrior explains, through a mixture of gestures and the common trade-tongue of the plains, that they are warriors of the Darkstone. He names the black pillar the "Sky-Fang" and informs you it is a sacred place. They have just finished leaving offerings to the sky-spirits who are said to sleep within the stone.
They are surprised to see a lone traveler so far from the Ancestor Mountains, their home. He states that your journey must be a vital one to bring you to such a potent and dangerous place. In recognition of your courage--or perhaps your desperation--he offers you a gift to aid your quest, a sign of goodwill and a good omen before the spirits.
>A Warrior's Tool: The second warrior, a powerfully built man, holds out a knife. The blade is not the dull grey flint of your tribe's tools, but is chipped from the same black, glassy material as the obelisk itself. The warrior explains that it is sharper than any normal flint and holds its edge for a lifetime. He says it can skin a great elk in half the time and is a worthy weapon if needed.>A Spirit's Secret: The lead warrior touches the palm of his hand to his forehead. He offers to share his tribe's knowledge of the Sky-Fang. He explains that the monolith is dangerous to the uninitiated; it can steal memories and cause waking dreams. He can tell you the proper way to approach it, a small ritual to perform that will appease the spirits within and allow one to receive a "true vision" instead of a maddening one.>A Hunter's Plea: The third warrior, the youngest of the three, speaks of a great beast. He describes a monstrous, four-tusked boar that can walk as easily on two legs as on four, that has been terrorizing their hunting grounds. He says their shaman believes it is a malevolent earth-spirit. He makes a mark in the dirt, a simple map, showing you the location of the beast's lair in a canyon system to the southeast. He explains that if you were to help them slay it, their whole tribe would be in your debt. 
