The Day of Thunder

She had waited a few days. Visiting the graveyard would normally have been one of the first things she did once she arrived. Tending to the dead was a significant aspect of every Bat, especially their priests. But, there were several oddities about this village that needed to be studied. The graveyard was but one of them.

Even so, Nao entered cautiously. She had heard a few things already. But, some things needed to be seen for themselves.

If the goal was to gather as many representatives from as many realms as possible, to see what would happen, Kai could help.

Now, just needed to find a ghost and a crow/fox person and they would have most aspects of reality covered.

At the moment though, she was still observing the many steles, wondering if there was something wrong with their numbers and oldness, or if it was within the normal weirdness parameter of humans.

---

"Hello."

Nao, with San at her side, approached the woman. She had seen her before, but she had not had a chance to speak with her.

"My name Nao."

"Jugemu Gokō-no Surikire Kaijarisuigyo Suigyōmatsu Unraimatsu. Once known as the White Tiger of the West. Just call me Kai.

You wouldn't happen to be able to read fluently? I can only get small grasps of all these inscriptions."

"I should be able to." she nodded. "Unless it's a unique tribal language."

"How far west?" She asked as she leaned in to look at the markings.

"Where the sun sets.

Is the traditional answer. In practice, the desert. My domain was where the stories of Tiger lived, in turn filling the dreams of the people of the land. But that far away, under a different sun, tales and dreams are different. There might be a Tiger there, but it's a different Tiger."

"Storues? I really like stories." she smiled. "It's a shame that so many are forgotten. Like those buried here. I wonder how many of them the villagers actually remember."

"I'm not that deep into my own thinking. As of now, I simply wonder how many people there are in this village, alive or buried. Feels some day like it's a small town, some others days there are only half a dozen inhabitants.

See something resembling a date on these tombs? Could give us a hint of how old the place is."

"You're right. I have no idea how many villagers there actually are." she nodded. "These appear to be rather recent. Let's look for older markers. What brought you here?"

The newer ones are all from the last five years. There aren't as many as she might normally expect, even from a small village.

The older ones are more unusual in shape, and what dates she can read are sporadic. The markers from the Kisaki tribe are there. They were mostly about 40-60 years old, readable because they were in Isawa script.

There were older ones farther back, though, more varying in shape, size, and what's on them. There were similarities to each group, though. One had standing stones with pictographs. Another group seemed to built simplified statues to their lost loved ones. The oldest ones were mostly worn away or rubble.

It seems several different groups had settled here at different times.

"These are very old." she said. "There aren't any dates I can see, but they don't seem to belong to the ancestors of the current villagers. It looks like different tribes, or other groups, have settled here over the decades. Perhaps centuries."

"Like migration cycles? People gather here, remain a bit, then depart, then the place stays empty until a new generation comes in and repeat the process?

Why thought? Humans don't require to be in a specific location to breed. A hunting ground maybe? People come here to find some creature that remains hidden the rest of the time?"

"Maybe something happens each time. Maybe we aren't the first group to be trapped here." She answered. "The newer graves are around five years old. There aren't as many as I'd expect from this village. But, the other markers I can read go back 60 years.

"And does anything happen every 60 years and so? All I can think of is that it's five Great Races; five full zodiac circles."

"Unfortunately, the only dates I can recognize are those of the calendar the Isawa use." she shrugged. "Everything else is marked with entirely different script and symbiology. I could try asking the elements. Earth may remember when these were placed. But, time can be a hard concept for the kami to relate to."

Kai raised her head:

"Are they good at counting? Could ask them how many times since that tomb was dug the moon went from full to new to full again. That's how people have kept track of time way before calendars were a thing."

"Let's find out." she smiled.

Nao sat down next to the marker that seemed the oldest and drew her small knife. She cut herself and let her blood drip into the earth, asking for it's attention.

- - -
(Day 3, EA) Just Like Home, Casting Commune with Earth, 1 CR for Clarity, 1 CR for 1 extra question, 1 Wound | 6k3 ⇒ 25 (TN: 20)

The Earth seemed to almost purr under her feet in the way she felt it respond.

Child of Death... Child of Nothing... Speak...

"This stone was placed here to mark the dead. How many winters have passed since then?" she asked.