*some might notice that I have changed my tribe's name. Amaruni sounded too much like Amani and I was easily confused myself.
The people I tell of are entirely fictional and if anyone in the game wears those names I apologise as I did not know.
And ya, I am sorry about the novel, but I have been thinking of this for so long and did not feel that I could remove anything. More is coming at a later point, I will tell how she became a shaman and how she learnt the language of orcs.*
The Lionhide Tribe broke out from Darkspear many years ago, before Agali was born and when her mother was still a child. Omrin'Jin, a charismatic troll with an astimated age and big, strong tusks, convinced a handful of other men to take their women and children and follow him to an island where they could live "like trolls should".
Omrin'Jin formed Lionhide Tribe, named after the huge lion hide the men sat upon when they had their council, and even though the tribe itself was by no means religious they were becoming more and more of a cult. The Tribe grew steadily and they lived a happy life, in the beginning without the rules and hard discipline Darkspears had and with more food than ever as the island was truly a paradise.
As most cult leaders Omrin'Jin changed into a suspicious, paranoid and greedy man. He made rules - small at first like rules on how to greet him and how only his advicors were allowed to look him in the eyes, and everyone happily obeyed as he was a truly charismathic leader and as his speeches made perfectly sense.
Time passed and more rules were made. When Agali was born the Lionhide Tribe was truly a cult - believeing in only the words of the great Omrin'Jin and his favourite son, Sen'Avred.
It was strictly forbidden to leave the island or to stray away from the
guards that patrolled it. Anyone doing so got instantly punished,
except for Sen'Avred who went away with hides, woven bags and barrels
of fish and returned with knives, milk or weath. None was allowed to talk about the Darkspear Tribe or any other ways than the Lionhide's, and those doing so were immedeately identified and punished as Omrin'Jin rewarded snitches richly.
All women belong to Omrin'Jin and Sen'Avred and were served to the other men as rewards. All children were thought of as Omrin'Jin and Sen'Avred's offspring and no one was allowed to bond in family groups - as why Agali did not know who was her mother until she was almost an adult and never learned the name of her true father.
It happened once that a trolline resisted a man she was given to and managed to hurt him severely with her big, sharp tusks. From that day tusks were amputeed or cut off of all female trolls.
The resisting trolline was hung in her thumbs, naked close to a razor ant hive in the woods. Agali was only a couple of years old but she can still remember the screams and the white skeleton that was thrown into the sea the next morning.
As Agali knew of nothing else she had a quite happy childhood, despite the rules that bond Lionhide so hard. When she thinks of her childhood today she can remember the warmth and the comfort in all of her mother's arms - and the respect and love she felt for her fathers; Omrin'Jin and Sen'Avred.
Until one day.
The Lionhide Tribe did not count years, but Agali could have been around fourteen years old when she took a basket under her arm and went into the woods to pluck berries that morning. As she was a very obedient child and walking towards the centre of the island no guard followed her. And that was lucky, as when she got home that night she was changed.
She was wise enough never to tell anyone about what happened and to continue playing her role as the perfectly disciplined trolline for several years - until finally she found the perfect time to escape with a stolen dagger in a leather band around her neck and a heart beating so hard she was certain it would reveal her as she sneaked past a guard and swam towards the shore of Stranglethorn Vale.
...and what happened next is not yet to be told.
Subject: Agali of the Lionhide Tribe 
Fri 01 Feb 2008, 01:30
