Caravan Leaders Log

Our sister clans began arriving today, the Armida and DauDin families among them. I’m glad to have the Armida here, Saydinna’s presence is particularly appreciated. It is easy to see who S’ayde took after as his Mother is just as quick of wit, and sharp of tongue. She and her husband sought me out the moment they arrived, pledging their alliance once more with the mother clan. This is strong support, considering Saydinna herself is quite old fashioned and traditionalist.

I’ve not yet heard from the Kheeriin, I’m hoping they contacted Tallel in regards to their attendance at the summit. It is a long way to travel from the Telgar Steppe to where we currently sit. I would hardly expect more than an ambassador, as the Kheeriin’s support is just as important as the Armida’s, as we are the three eldest clans in the Zingari Caravans.

The Elders have sent word that their Caravan will be attending in full. This both makes me nervous, and joyous. Nervous because such revered voices could turn my own people against me if they speak cleverly enough. I don’t understand how they cannot see that what I do is for the good and betterment of our people. Joyous, because it has been a long time since I have seen my grandmother Ethelinda, and she is one of the very few Elder voices that speaks for me. I would very much like her council in the days ahead, and I miss her dearly. Her sister, my great Aunt Theodosia, is a fine woman, and she makes a fine matriarch for our clan, but I trust my grandmother more with these things.

I dearly hope we can get this all settled quickly and that I can make the Elders and my people see things clearly. I am tired of warring within my own ranks, tired of watching my people divide from the inside out. I know that change comes hard, but this is almost too much.

~ Willimina

Caravan Second's Log

Times of gathering among the Zingari should be happy occasions, not taut with underlying animosity. But there’s always been a bit of that over the past several Turns, even before Willa and I were wedded. It’s become an unfortunate way of life, beyond the contention of something that should just feel like typical sibling rivalry. This is something else now, something darker and far more dangerous. It’s time for it to end. I wish I wasn’t writing this with the shadow of fear looming over everything, but it can’t be helped.

The Kheeriin mean to be here but haven’t arrived yet. My parents have had some unrest of their own to deal with, though not to the extent of what we’ve faced here. I have word that Harai will be along ahead of anyone else, which will be a great relief. The presence of the Second will do far better than complete absence.

It will be good to see Ethelinda again, especially for Willa. I have to admit, I think that having most of the Elders ensconced in one particular caravan is an increasingly bad situation. Most of our woes stem from there, or so my instincts tell me. It’s too easy for that brood of old wherry-hens to sit there, secluded from the world, groaning and grumbling about the change we’ve set in motion and plotting how to remove us so that the Zingari will go backwards into the suspicion and isolation the old ones have been comfortable with for so long. Convincing the Zingari as a whole to do away with that institution, instead spreading the Elders out throughout the clans, will likely be another battle in itself, but a worthwhile one.

How can they not see our survival depends on moving forward? They are cowards. There’s really no other way to put it. Fortunately, Ethelinda, Theodosia, and some others aren’t quite so blind. We can hope in that, at least.

I’m almost ready to tell Javid to just go ahead and take down this Aztrexia woman he’s been watching, but I’m not sure Willa would approve. And our spymaster has plans yet. Staying patient is getting harder day by day, especially when I feel my family’s safety stands on the edge of a knife.

~ Tallel

Caravan Leader's Log

Clans are still arriving, with the Elders and Kheeriin still on route to meet the summit. However, we started some general talks today, asking clan Leaders and their seconds what they thought personally on the matter of the changes made to Zingari rules and tradition. We got a few encouraging responses, and a few very discouraging ones. Most are angry, not because of the changes Tallel and I have made, but because of the chaos it caused in the ranks. Families with split opinions, rifts between sister clans that had worked side by side for turns, the war between old tradition and new.

I have asked Javid to keep his spylings and Adepts on alert, to keep them watching and listening everywhere. The Armida have lent some of their own adepts to the cause, wanting peaceful and honest talks and negotiations as much as I do. However, we also both know that these kind of things don’t always stay peaceful and honest, and with the recent attacks on the caravans, and the stolen/damaged goods that came as a result, well, I wouldn’t put it past the Elders to try subterfuge to get their way. And I have a high suspicion that what they want is me gone.

~ Willimina

Caravan Second's Log

We’ve had a sort of open forum for the leaders who have arrived so far, just to get things moving. I’m proud of Willa for making that call, risky though it was. It should make things move faster to start recording grievances - and better yet, encouragements - now rather than when the Elders have all assembled. We’ll be listening to them for days on end without cease as it is, I’m sure.

While I understand the frustrations some of the other leaders have brought to us, I hope they’ll take an example from the perseverance Willa and I have displayed, being the ones who started it all. Change seldom comes quietly. There will always be those who fight it. It falls to us to show them how the good outweighs the bad…and how those who want to fight and rabble-rouse just for the sake of being loud are dealt with. We are going to have to use a much firmer hand with some by the end of this, and for those leaders who are with us in moving forward, we’ll need to let them know it’s alright to take the same approach if need be.

Faranth, I hate this. I feel as though there’s some voice calling out of the distant past, railing against all this sort of conflict, but the words are unclear and thin. If all of us could listen to it, would it change things? Or is it just in the nature of all people to clash, even when we know peace is the ideal?

I am grateful for our spies - Javid and his adepts, as well as those from the Armida. I know they help far more than we realize. Willa keeps telling Javid that she wants them working night and day, and he nods and bows and assures her it will be done. The truth is that they’ve never stopped. I’m sure Willa knows this, but I don’t blame her for reiterating the need. I wonder if she’s noticed that it’s always Javid who watches wherever the children are.

~ Tallel

Caravan Leader's Log

It seems I cannot keep this summit waiting any longer, leaders and their ambassadors are chomping at the bit wondering what is taking so long. The Kheeriin have opted to send their Second in lieu of their Leaders, this is fine as I know the Kheerin stand behind us always. However, the Elders have not yet arrived and I’m peeved that they keep us waiting. This journey of ours has already taken far longer than I had expected. We were supposed to be gone for the spring, it is now Autumn and we have barely made it past Igen River Hold. We now camp on the road to Red Butte as the hold could no longer support our numbers.

Information leakage seems to have slowed to a stop during our stay here and for that I am grateful. It seems Javid and his spylings have done a fantastic job of both keeping the peace and keeping our traitor from contacting his or her bosses. And we haven’t had any more attacks. The serious talks shall start in the morning whether the Elders are in attendance or not, it’s high time this came to an end and my rule solidified.

With the Armida, Kheerin and DauDin at my back, I surely hope I can convince the other clans to rally behind us, this war of the clans wears at my soul. It’s time I took control and held it this time, and any who find themselves balking can separate themselves from the clans and the Zingari name, they want their archaic traditions so bad? They can take them elsewhere. I want the Zingari to move forward, to be progressive, and we cannot do this hanging on the skirt strings of our past.

~ Willimina

Caravan Second's Log

Either the Elders keep having to deal with their health along the way, or they are deliberately trying to raise as many hackles as possible by delaying their arrival. There are possibilities revolving around the latter that I’d really rather not entertain, but I can’t help it at this point.

Harai is here, thank Faranth, along with a missive from my parents. Someone poisoned a large portion of the runner feed in the Kheeriin camp - not enough to kill, but enough to make travel by the whole caravan impossible for a time. My parents mean to come as soon as they’re certain all are well on the way to recovery. To say I’m furious is almost an understatement. I can keep a level head easily enough, but I’m sure I can’t hide everything that’s going on inside me. I don’t have our spymaster’s talent for such things, after all.

Harassment on the roads and information leaks seem to have stopped for now, thankfully, but there’s no way I’m about to relax. It feels like the calm before the storm and little else. I wonder how much smaller the Zingari will be at the end if this. Hopefully there won’t be as much culling as I fear, but it’s hard to say. Willa has gotten better at keeping her pride and temper reined when she needs to, but I know that restraint is going to be tried severely over these next days. I’m glad I can be there to counterbalance her, though I may find the limits of my own temper while we’re here. We’ll see what happens very soon.

~ Tallel

Caravan Leader's Log

It has been almost a seven since I wrote last and so much has changed. I had hoped that this summit would provide peace, not more turmoil, but I suppose both go hand in hand at times.

The Elders arrived just a day after my last entry, and I almost wish they had stayed where they were. Their voices rang loud and clear at the meetings, berating those that stood behind Tallel and I, and trying not so subtly to tarnish my reputation.

“Willimina has always shown blatant disregard for our ways!” said one.

“She wormed her way out of two marriages because Ethelinda and Baomos were too soft on her,” said another.

My grandmother balked at this as she has always done what she thought best for the mother clan. Even after my father took the reins, even after I did, even if she did let me cheat my way out of a loveless match and into one of my own choosing. How could they not see that the man I was originally supposed to marry would have been the end of us all? That man could never have held a candle to Ephraim or Tallel.

“Willimina flaunts her authority with no concern for tradition, or the rule of the Elders,” another Elder spoke, a few days later. “Has everyone forgotten that it is WE who govern the clans? The Haeyleri may have birthed us all, but they have grown too big for their britches, thinking they can pass law and tradition as if they have the power to do so. Too long have we let them have the biggest voice in council, too long has their rule subverted our own.”

This argument in and of itself caused an uproar, one that found me more support than it lost me, but they did have a point. A point that I feared would turn the tables against me. My clan is the mother of us all, and being so, we’ve been allowed the biggest voice at council, but it is truly the Elders who rule us.

Tallel and I then voiced the opinion that maybe this should change, maybe the mother clan should be the ruling clan, with sister clans having some measure of autonomy through their leader’s decisions, as long as clan laws, as they stand now and in the future, are upheld. We held a vote for the dissolution of the elder clan, motioning that each clan’s elder return to their home clan in an advisory position, nothing more.

To our complete surprise, the vote passed, the Elder’s warmongering finally turned against them. Our people, even the conservative ones, could not stand for the slandering of the mother clan and it’s long lived rule, despite the changes in long lived traditions and laws. Three sister clans severed themselves from the Zingari name and disappeared into the night, the rest have unwittingly been assigned an Armida spy for a turn, to make sure the turnover goes smoothly.

Anger still boils under the surface as the clans scramble to take in those that abandoned the severed clans and prepare to move out. Grumblings are heard here and there, though this is to be expected. The Elders have been given a quarter turn to disband and train their caravan leaders in the ways of ruling that don’t conflict with the new laws.

Ethelinda and I spent long hours that night celebrating what seems to be a sweeping win for us. I have not seen much of her since then and am hoping I did not celebrate my grandmother into a sick bed, as whiskey flowed quite freely that night.

I am glad this seems to be coming to an end, though I am not so relieved as to let down my guard. Myself and mine are still on the precipice of danger, I can feel it…. Reports from the Kheeriin say that the poisoned runners are recovering, which I am grateful for, though I fear more subterfuge such as this may happen as Clans try to transition into this new way of life. We are not out of the woods yet, so to speak. The road ahead is still bumpy and full of hidden dangers….we must be alert.

It is times like these that I am glad for my Spymaster and his Spylings, for without them and my wonderful husband, I fear I would die of paranoid anxiety.

~ Willimina

Caravan Second's Log

Fear is such a strange motivator. On the one hand, it drove the Zingari to near-insularity with the aim of preserving our culture. On the other, it’s what spurred Willa and I to push for change before we became trapped within ourselves. Fear always seems to work in black and white as well, leaving little room for compromises to be made.

The fears we addressed carried more weight in the end. Now we are left with severed ties in some places, raw wounds that will heal in others. It was all to be expected, and all something that can be overcome. I hope the old blood will continue forward with us, because despite the tensions so many of the Elders created, there is still a wealth of wisdom lying in their midst. Only the foolish would fail to heed what’s there, so long as the Elders can come to accept that their people wish to move on from all that’s tried to keep them conformed to a particular mold for centuries.

I should be relieved that we’ve gotten over this mountain…but I can’t be at ease yet. Everyone knows tensions will still run high for a while, the grumbling keeping to a dull roar until people have adjusted. But I can’t shake the feeling that the Elders are not about to go quietly into the night appointed for them. Not yet. They may make one final push against us somehow despite everything. I don’t know what, or how. I just know that they have proved devious thus far, and this vote hasn’t sapped it from them.

I’ve seen it in some of their eyes. In speaking with Javid, I know he feels the same, and he’s taken it upon himself to shadow a few that set him more on edge than others.

I’m trying not to let Willa see how I still worry. She knows full well that we can’t let our guard down, even with being able to celebrate a victory. But I’ll not burden her more with my concerns just no, nor will I bring it around our children. They always see more than we care to think.

The storm hasn’t passed yet.

~ Tallel