Kekesh

''"I see...you were the victim of the potion. Not the Damkianna." The man behind the bars was young, but his face, his spirit was old. An age born of hardship and strife. An age born of painful experience. "It was not my intent to harm you." He continued. "You are Edakua's Dub'sag?" ''

''"I am." Urd replied. ''

''"You seem good." The man's smile was slim. "He told me you fought for me."''

''"It was not enough." The Norn whispered, and the regret, even now, gnawed in her gut.''

''"No...it was not." The man agreed. "But I learned long ago that one does not fight the Damkianna head-on.  That is why you failed."''

''Urd frowned. "You speak as though you know how to fight her and win."''

"I do."

''Urd's frown grew. "....what are you saying?"''

''"That potion was meant for her." The man revealed. "She was meant to suffer, not you.  I had been promised her demise."''

''Urd sucked in a sharp breath, feeling a wave of anger, fresh and painful, seize her chest. It was hard to breath, suddenly, and the woman had to stop herself from bringing a hand to her heart. "...And....who...who were...'They' ?"''

''"I do not know." Kekesh revealed. "They claimed they were 'Legion'.''

"And you worked with them.  To kill the Damkianna."

"To kill the Damkianna, yes. Not you."

"To kill my mother."

Kekesh fell silent, and for a long moment the two stared at each other; one Dub'sag to the other, one Wilder, the other Falkin, yet both holding an equal authority among their respective tribes.They were equals. ''

And one of them was to die.

''"She took my brother, though we had given up without a fight." Kekesh said slowly. "He was dead, in the tribe's eyes."''

''"And now he is alive." Urd replied. "And has been living well since arriving here in his childhood.  He has never been threatened by the Damkianna with death, for he is of my tribe.''

''The woman took a slow, deep breath. "Do you still wish her death? Knowing that Edakua has been alive all this time?"''

''Kekesh stared at her, and in his face Urd witnessed sadness. Regret. And above all...pity. Pity for her, which she did not understand. "She tore my people apart." He said. "She killed our men, took us hostage, and will execute my brothers and I before the man I had thought dead."''

''The man stared at her with deep blue eyes the same shade as his brother's. An irony. She looked into the eyes of the man who almost killed her and found the eyes of the man who saved her staring back. "Of course I wish her death."''

''And Urd found her anger growing. Undirected anger. Anger at Kekesh, for his curses and his poisons, anger at Legion, for manipulating the man, anger at Hild, for decimating his tribe, and above all anger-and disgust-in herself, and her inability to do anything about it.''

Wordlessly, Urd turned and walked away, and felt the eyes of a dead man follow her through the door.

She would get no rest that night.

-Urd and Kekesh converse, Scarred Survivors ,Unknown scene

Edakua's older brother. Dub'sag of the Tuulai (Rabbit) Tribe.

Kekesh became Dub'sag at the tender age of fourteen, following the death of his father, the previous Dub'sag, who succumbed to an illness which had devastated the tribe and wiped out half of it's members. With his mother already dead after giving birth to his youngest brother, Kekesh was left to lead what remained of the peaceful Tuulai and to raise his three younger brothers one lone younger sister. When Hild arrived with an armed Vanguard two years later, the Tuulai gave up without a fight; despite their fearsome reputation as a Tribe of Curses, the Tuulai recognized that they would fall to Hild's might with their low numbers.

Unfortunately, whereas Hild was willing to take this easy victory for what it was, the tribe felt themselves responsible for following Saminduru (Wilder) tradition, and against Kekesh's wishes offered a nine-year old Edakua to the Damkianna as a sacrifice; the next in line to inherit the title of Dub'sag should Kekesh fall, and the closest thing the child had to the 'Firstborn of the Dub'sag'. Despite fighting against the sacrifice, Kekesh's rule was over-ridden in a rare inter-tribal meeting. Edakua was released to Hild, and the young, brash, and inexperienced Kekesh was left to watch as another family member disappeared from his life.

Deeply hurt by his brother's loss, Kekesh went on to create a new law within the Tuulai; any Falkin who approached the tribe would be cursed on sight, and left to flail in the Badlands before succumbing to their death. For the peaceful Tuulai, who had acquired a reputation as one of the few approachable tribes by which Borderland Falkin and wandering Wilder could trade with, this law did not sit well. Yet Kekesh's law would be followed; the young man made it clear on that day that he would not allow the tribe to over-rule him as Dub'sag again, and word quickly spread on the winds of change of the tribe's new isolation and hostility.

For many traders, this change came as a painful surprise. The Tuulani were a tribe renown for their openness and their aide along the borderlands. Falkin, Wilder, and even the rare Jotunn could travel easy knowing that the Tuulani would be willing to trade with them and spare them a tent against the cruel day and the black night. Yet the Tuulani were also an infamous tribe; a tribe which suffered few raids and fewer wars, for they were known infamously as the Tribe of Curses; a tribe whose men held the unique ability to curse other beings.

All of a sudden, the Tuulani were a fearsome tribe to stumble across.

So it was the Tuulani spent their days and nights, with few traders and less support, trying desperately to rekindle the numbers lost with a Dub'sag who refused to interact with the Falkin nation of which they were now a piece of. Years passed. The tribe slowly rekindled its numbers.

Until the day a stranger approached a lone Tuulani at a trading post, wearing a cloak which obscured the owner's features and who's voice remained obscured by a spell. The stranger approached with an offer, of which the lone Tuulani was wary; caution was a strong trait within all Tuulani, who preferred flight vs flights, and this stranger reeked of bad news to the tribesman.

Yet the stranger was persistent, seeking audience with the Tuulani's Dub'sag regarding a 'message of utmost importance'. With heavy reluctance the stranger was brought to the tribe, where he was fed, his thirst quenched, and met with a once friendly people who had grown xenophobic underneath their Dub'sag.

Kekesh met with the stranger, escorted by guards who read the stranger's aura and searched through their heavy arsenal of spells for a curse which would strike the man dead should he misspeak. And speak he did, and Kekesh listened with growing interest as the stranger said to him, "What if I presented to you the opportunity to kill the Damkianna?"

And Kekesh, with eyes that sparkled in the torchlight, leaned forward. "You have my attention." He said.

Items were passed, promises were made, and a stranger who only went by the organizational name of Legion left the Xenophobic Rabbits that night.

Kekesh's decision would have lasting consequences.

The man was later discovered and charged with an assassination attempt against the throne, where Hild personally led an army against the Tuulani, killing all the men within the tribe and leaving the women defenseless. Kekesh and his two younger brothers were arrested, charged with treason, and brought back to the capital for a public execution, where he discovered Edakua was alive and well. He had a single opportunity to speak with Edakua, who revealed to Kekesh the extent of Legion's manipulation of the Tuulani tribe, and the Hound's Dub'sag's efforts to prevent the raid on Kekesh's people.

His last words are to Urd, and speak of his last regret at unsuccessfully killing Hild with his curse.