Ten Rabbit looked up at the high priest of Camatz from where he was kneeling. He had just finished his Tlatzahui, the ceremony where he became a sacred assassin for Camatz. In this ceremony the Sacred Assassins were given the Tzanatli or ritual obsidian blade. The Tzanatli was only used in sacred assassinations, that had been commanded to happen by the god Camatz. It was the high priest who decided which Sacred Assassin would get the assignment. Ten Rabbit's face still stung from the tattoos he had been given earlier in the day. He showed no sign of either the pain from his tattoos or from rough stone that he was kneeling on and pain was inconsequential. The only thing that mattered was waiting attentively for the high priest to speak.
Camatz was an important god of the dead. It was Camatz who severed the link between the body and the spirit so the soul could continue on its journey. If that link wasn't severed by Camatz then that person was doomed to be tied to Ardu and not pass onto the afterlife. There were two ways the Michocano worshiped the god Camatz. One was the way that the very few who knew about the sacred assassins worshiped. This was made up exclusively of nobles, and not many of those. And the larger group made up of the rest of the Michocan People. For the most part the Sacred Assassins were unknown. In fact the majority of people who worshiped at the temple of Camatz only came to try and hold off death for as long as they could.
Now that he was considered a sacred assassin for Camatz, Ten Rabbit was considered to be a junior priest and would now live in the priests temple complex instead of the nobles port. If he successfully completed his mission and lived to return that is. Ten Rabbit waited patiently for the high priest of Camatz to tell him what his mission would be. Patience was just one of the many things that was taught to those who would be sacred assassins. Only nobles could become sacred assassins and started training at a very early age. As soon as the child showed that they had high intelligence the priests would test them to see if they would become initiates to the mysteries of Camatz. Ten Rabbit had excelled at all of his training.
While he waited for the high priest to speak Ten Rabbit's mind drifted back to when he was tested for inclusion into the sacred assassins. He had been a boy of only seven at the time. Even then he had been both more physical and smarter than anyone else in the temple school he attended. He was also a staunch worshiper of Camatz. For as long has he'd been aware of the different gods, Ten Rabbit had felt that Camatz had a role for him to fill. All nobles of any rank were trained in the basics of reading, writing and arithmetics so that they would be ready for the jobs they would do in support of the Teotlepetl, the God-King, of the Michocan empire. Even in his earliest classes Ten Rabbit had excelled. So much so that he had been recommended for deeper study at the temple of Camatz. All within his first year of teaching, which confirmed his beliefs about Camatz.
Everyone in his family had been so proud, even those who didn't know what his service would mean. For even the majority of nobles weren't part of the mystery that service to Camatz entailed. As far as the majority of his family knew he was destined to become a priest of Camatz, which he was, they just didn't know about the rest of the job. Ten Rabbit had lived up to his potential as far as his teachers were concerned. He knew this because he'd been told as much during his Tlatzahui ceremony. He also knew that he'd done well by the tattoos he'd received as part of it. Now all he waited for was to find out if he was going out immediately on a mission or if he was going to have to wait for Camatz to designate someone to die.
Ten Rabbit wasn't sure which he hoped for after all it was terrible to wish for someone you didn't know to die. There had been some Sacred Assassins who had needed to wait for a long time, even years, to be given a mission. Other times there were more missions than people to do them. The latter had been during very tumultuous times, thankfully this wasn't one of those times. At least he didn't think so. None of the other countries were at war with anyone. Well Gizba was, but they generally were at war with the rest of the world. And the rest of the world didn't care, they just avoided the place. So, as far as Ten Rabbit knew this wasn't one of those inauspicious times and he was very glad for that.
The high priest was a tall, lean man with impressively broad shoulders. The sacred tattoos on his face showed that at one time he had also been a Sacred Assassin. Ten Rabbit knew that when he spoke the high priest's voice would resonate through him. No one could ignore or dismiss the high priest of Camatz when he spoke. He even believed that the Teotlepetl would listen to the high priest of Camatz when he spoke. No one that hadn't been a Sacred Assassin could become the high priest of Camatz. Ten Rabbit didn't know how things were done in the temples of other gods. He didn't even know whether or not the other temples had more than one level of priesthood. If he ever became high priest he'd find out he supposed. But since he had no desire to be high priest Ten Rabbit doubted that he'd ever know.
Finally the high priest spoke the words that Ten Rabbit had been waiting for. He told him what his task for Camatz was to be. He was not only being given a mission from Camatz, his mission was outside the Michocan Empire. In fact it was in Kishnagar, which was very far from his home in Tlatlolitzli, the capital of the Michocan Empire. He was being sent far from home with no support on his very first mission. Camatz and his high priest must have great faith in him to give him such an important mission. He would not let them down, not the high priest and most definitely not Camatz.
Ten Rabbits first step would be to journey to Alkadharam, the capital of Kishnagar. From there he would join an adventurers group to get to Adikha Yunavarasiti. Where he would kill the leader of a group of mages before they could end the world. If he had to kill all those mages to get to his target he would. Nothing was going to get in the way of his mission.
Travel
A few weeks later Ten Rabbit was walking along the border of the Michocan empire and the Oristani lands. Technically the land he was walking through was part of the Michocan Empire, but the Oristani also claimed those lands. Since the Oristani were only interested in grazing their herds and gathering some of the herbs and spices that grew wild in the forests at the border of the two countries, the stance of the Michocano was to let them do so instead of trying to keep them out. Pretty much every country on Ardu had learned to not argue with the Oristani about borders. All of them had learned that particular lesson the hard way.
At one time or another each of the countries that bordered the Oristani lands and been taught a very sharp lesson as a result, each of the various countries had been slaughtered by the Oristani that came boiling out of nowhere. It didn't matter how advanced your weapons were, or how big your army was. The Oristani would calmly hand you your head and make you like it. No one argued when the Oristani came through on their seasonal trips to the Michocan lands. It was much safer to live and let live when those folks were around.
Ten Rabbit walked along the obsidian road wondering if he was going to see any of the elusive Oristani. He knew that he would be safe from them because the Oristani never attacked unless they were attacked first. Although there was some mild raiding done by young Oristani trying to make a name for themselves, no one was actually hurt by these raids. Although it was a bit disconcerting to wake up and find that only one of your beasts was gone or an item from inside your house is missing. Apparently some of the Oristani, especially the young adults of both sexes, thought it was a great game. Ten Rabbit wondered if other lands had the same kind of troubles with the Oristani. Or if this was something only this tribe did. Ten Rabbit knew that there were many different tribes and they weren't very homogeneous. As far as Ten Rabbit knew the only thing they all shared was their reverence of the spirits and shaman.
Ten Rabbit kept his eyes on the ground he was walking on, only looking up when he had to. On his right was the start of the vast plains of Oristan and on his left was the edge of the dense forests and jungles of his people. He had never before been away from his home city of Tlatlolitzli. Even there the jungle was ever present except in the city itself. And in the city the size of the buildings gave the same feeling that the dense jungle did. Never in his life had Ten Rabbit been faced with such an open expanse of land and sky. Of the two, Ten Rabbit was more discomforted by the open sky. So much so that he'd taken to walking with his eyes on the ground so he wouldn't see the sky above him. It was almost enough to make him feel like he was going to go flying up into the sky.
Ten Rabbit neither heard nor saw the group of Oristani who rode up to him. He did manage to become aware of them before they spoke to him but only just. Their Temee made almost no sound as they rode up to him. The only sound Ten Rabbit heard was the soft and gentle chiming of the bridle bells. Those bells told Ten Rabbit that the Oristani in front of him weren't a hunting or raiding group. Neither would have had the bells on their bridles and a raiding group would be much larger and younger. There were very few of the youths that usually raided into the Michocan lands.
In fact Ten Rabbit had seen groups just like this, only unmounted, trading in the city more than once. So he figured that this group was on its way to do just that. None of the cities in Michocan were set up for mounts. Generally speaking the Michocan didn't ride any mounts. Sure the very old, the injured or the crippled would travel in a cart. But the Michocan didn't use mounts of any kind and Ten Rabbit was no different. They used runners for messages and llamas for just about everything else. But no one rode llamas even if they'd would put up with it.
The Oristani were mounted and Ten Rabbit was uncertain of what he was seeing at first. For a brief moment Ten Rabbit thought he was looking a some bizarre monster. He had never seen a Temee in reality after all. It took a couple of heart beats for his mind to actually make sense of what he was seeing. And when he finally did the revised picture wasn't much of an improvement. He'd had no idea that the Temee were so large. Ten Rabbit had always thought that Temee were just slightly taller versions of the llamas they used to transport good and pull carts. The Oristani were already a tall people and mounted on their Temee they seemed to be giants.
Ten Rabbit jumped a bit when the Oristani in the lead made his Temee kneel so he could dismount. He'd met Oristani before so his? her? it was hard for a Michocano to tell sometimes, voice came as no surprise. Actually Ten Rabbit had always thought that the deep voices of the Oristani were rather nice. He'd often wondered what their music was like, but now was not the time to ask. The leader of the traders walked up to Ten Rabbit, the Temee following like a dog. No lead rope or anything that Ten Rabbit recognized as a means to control the beast. He could feel fear starting climb up his spine the closer the beast came to him. If he'd known just how large the Temee were he might have tried to find another way to get to his target.
Ten Rabbit steeled himself, determined not to let his fear show. The Oristani had no respect for the cowardly but it was very hard with that mount so close, and were those fangs? Were the Temee meat eaters, Ten Rabbit thought he might have heard something about that but had always thought it was only rumor. But with the beast so close to him now, he started to rethink that belief. Then his brain translated what the trader had said. They wanted to know if he was in trouble of some kind and did he need a ride to somewhere to get help.
Thankfully Ten Rabbit was able to tell the traders, quite truthfully, that he was on his way to Alkadharam and was just fine. That was when they surprised him again and asked if he wanted to buy one of their Temee for a mount. This string, except their personal mount, were all for sale as well as the goods they carried. They could shift the load around if he needed a mount. Ten Rabbit had never been gladder of his lessons at the temple. He was able to tell them, without insulting them, that he didn't need a mount but thank you for the offer. They mounted and continued on their way while Ten Rabbit tried to calm himself. It was a very long time before he succeeded.
Assassins Guild
Just over a month later Ten Rabbit was sitting in the common room of his inn in Alkadharam. He was waiting for his dinner to arrive. Tomorrow he was to go to the Adventurer's guild to see if he could find a party heading towards the Adikha Yunavarasiti. If not, he would and could travel the distance alone. But it would be better if he had a group to travel with. If only for cover. It would be harder to get into the yunavarasiti if he didn't have a reason to enter, and "I'm really curious and want to look around" wasn't going to cut it. Sure he could sneak in, and if he couldn't find a party to go with he would. But that had its own risks and he wanted to avoid them if he could. No, the best way to get into the yunavarasiti would be as part of a group that had a reason to enter.
Ten Rabbits impression of the city wasn't very complimentary. How had these crazy people managed to get anything done. There was no clear chain of command to control how and when stuff was accomplished. They voted for their leader for gods sake. This whole place was crazy. Ten Rabbit was fairly certain that he would never understand this place or the people in it. How did people know what they were supposed to do or be. And the temples were everywhere. You could pick pretty much any street and somewhere on it would be at least one or more temples. Ten Rabbit understood that different peoples had different gods, that was only right and proper. Some of those temples were even dedicated to the Michocano gods. That was also quite understandable to Ten Rabbit. What he didn't understand was why the temples were all over the place and anyone could go into any temple. It was all very confusing to Ten Rabbit and he wasn't sure he wanted to understand it.
Ten Rabbit had been in Alkadharam for almost a week now. It had taken that long to find out all of the places he needed to go to to accomplish his mission, or at least this phase of it. While his superiors could have just told him where he needed to go, they hadn't for a very good reason. Ten Rabbit needed to show that he could work well without direct input from his teachers and superiors. If he couldn't figure out how to do everything he needed to do here then he wouldn't be able to finish his mission. If he couldn't complete his task, his mission, than he should just go home and let the temple give this task to someone else. Since the mission, and who would complete it, had been decreed by Camatz. He should be able to do it. After all he'd been chosen by Camatz to do it, hadn't he.
Ten Rabbit sat thinking, while around him the common room bustled with activity. The only part of this crazy land were the taverns and inn common rooms. In every other way these people were confusing to him. He had already decided that unless he really had to leave the inn he was going to stay here. Ten Rabbit was paying close attention to everyone around him. Not because he really thought that those around him were dangerous, but because that was how he was trained. Even with all of that caution he missed the startled expression that one of the other customers made when he stood and left.
Later that night Ten Rabbit was relaxing in his room reading when there was a knock on his door. Who could that be he thought to himself as he stood up. Ten Rabbit decided that it must be a message from the adventurers guild. He was not expecting who was at his door. There were five of them, two Humans, two Alfr and a Long Yi. The Long Yi pushed Ten Rabbit backwards into his room. The rest of the group followed with the last one carefully closing the door behind them. The scaled face of the Long Yi was close enough to Ten Rabbits face that if it had used its breath weapon there would have been no way to dodge it.
Ten Rabbits body reacted with out conscious thought, as it had been trained to. Before the Long Yi had a chance to do or say anything Ten Rabbit had killed it with a quick jab of the knife in his sleeve. He then stabbed one of the two Alfr in the eye before the Long Yi had hit the ground. Spinning in place Ten Rabbit then kicked the remaining Alfr hard in the chest, sending it into the wall. The two loud cracks from the Alfr he'd kicked, one when he kicked and second when he hit the wall, probably meant that that attacker was also permanently down. That left the two Humans staring at him, stunned at the quick removal of the other three attackers.
For a moment Ten Rabbit considered letting the other two live. But one of the two Humans decided to pull a knife and and charged him. A quick side step took him out of the way of the charge. A quick stab with another of the knives that Ten Rabbit had hidden in his other sleeve put an end to that one as well. All that was left was one very startled Human that was just starting to understand just how screwed he was. Ten Rabbit decided that the five attackers were not as skilled as they had thought they were. Ten Rabbit was also certain that if he did leave the sole remaining attacker alive, he'd probably just go and get more friends to try again. This guy was to stupid to do anything else. With that thought in mind Ten Rabbit approached the sole remaining invader. This was going to be a long and messy night.
Adventurers Guild
A few hours later Ten Rabbit now knew why he'd been attacked in his room tonight. Apparently one of the assassins guild members had been in the common room of his inn. This member had been the guilds chronicler and had recognized his tattoos as belong to the sacred assassins of Camatz. Of all the bad luck that chronicler also happened to have made a study of the more obscure religious groups of assassins. Included in that study was his own, the sacred assassins of Camatz. Which was why the blasted chronicler was able to identify him. His tattoos had given him away which was more than annoying since not even his own countrymen would have known what he was.
It seemed that when that oh so industrious chronicler had seen his tattoos he had gone directly to the Assassins guild and told them what he had seen. Unfortunately this individual had a reputation for sober thought. If he'd had one for exaggeration Ten Rabbit might not have been found out. Once they had gotten the news that one of the sacred assassins of Camatz was here the guild heads had lost their collective minds and decided that since he hadn't registered with them that he must be there to either assassinate one of them or someone so high up in the government that they wouldn't have allowed him to assassinate that person.
The real reason he hadn't contacted the assassins guild here was that he was only passing through. The odds were that if he'd been there to kill one of them or a high government official he probably would have gone to them. The sacred assassins really did try to work within the law as it were. Or at least within the guidelines of the country they were in. If only because it kept things like this from happening. But Ten Rabbit had figured that since he was only passing through that it wouldn't matter. If he made it back home he would tell the priests of Camatz about what happened so they could update the information about Alkadharam. That way no one else would, hopefully, run into this situation.
On the good side of the ledger, he had managed to defeat five people who if not assassins had known enough that the majority of people, assassins included, would have been defeated and/or killed. So at least the fight had proved that his skills were as good as his teachers had said they were. However it also meant that he would have to leave quickly. Not just the inn but the city altogether. It was no longer safe to be anywhere in Alkadharam for the foreseeable future. Ten Rabbit was going to have to go to the adventurers guild as soon as he was done with clean-up here.
For a long moment Ten Rabbit debated just leaving the mess behind and going to the adventurers guild immediately. In the long run he decided against it though. Since leaving a mess was not only bad manners but would probably get the constables on his trail as well as the twice blasted assassins guild here. Ten Rabbit foresaw a very long and labor intensive night ahead of him. And he better get onto it before the coming day complicated what he needed to do beyond all expectations.
Later that same night after some very tricky maneuvering, Ten Rabbit was able to dispose of the bodies and generally get his room clean enough to pass unnoticed by the cleaning staff. Not that the inn he was staying at would have much of a cleaning staff. More than likely as long as there is no obvious issues, like huge puddles of blood or random corpses laying around. He didn't think that anything was going to be noticed. So now all he had to do was to get himself out of town as fast as he can.
With that thought in mind Ten Rabbit headed to the adventurers guild as soon as he was done cleaning up his little mess. Rather than going at a more reasonable hour as he had originally planned. Thankfully the adventurers guild never closed their doors. While individual businesses closed, the city itself didn't seem to. Businesses like the adventurers guild not only stayed open at all hours but seemed to always be doing a brisk business. While Ten Rabbit hadn't actually gone into the guild he had scouted it out multiple times over the last week. He would have gone in sooner but Ten Rabbit wanted to make sure he knew all of the in's and out's of the place before he walked entered. More than one job had failed because the person assigned to it hadn't been careful about things like that. Sure he wasn't planning on doing any work here. The fact that he was able to not only survive the attack but was able to clean it up afterwards proved the wisdom of that particular piece of training.
Even knowing that the city of Alkadharam in general and the adventurers guild specifically never slept. Did not adequately prepared Ten Rabbit for what he found when he walked into the guild in the early hours before dawn. He'd expected activity but not this level of bustling around. The stable area looked like someone had stirred up an ant hive with how many animals were being saddled and unsaddled around him. It took a very long minute for Ten Rabbit to steel himself to cross the stable yard with all those animals moving around and making unpleasant sounds that he assumed were complaints. If he hadn't needed to get out of town so quickly he might have balked at crossing the stable yard but his mission was more important than any nervousness. So through the stable yard he went dodging animals and their waste with fastidiousness.
The inside of the guild was even busier than the outside. It took a bit for Ten Rabbit to find someone that wasn't running somewhere at top speed, eventually he succeeded. Once he was able to get his desire across to one of the guilds people things moved rather quickly. Before he knew it Ten Rabbit was added to a group that was leaving that same day. In fact the guild was getting the pack animals ready to go as they spoke. Ten Rabbit was very pleased to have found a group so easily. Significantly less please to find out he was going to need a mount. No matter how many times or ways that he tried to explain that he didn't need a mount. Ten Rabbit was unable to convince the guild folk that he was just fine walking. They insisted that he would need a mount or he wasn't going on this job. Ten Rabbits need to get out of town so he could complete his mission was much higher than his desire to stay unmounted. So Ten Rabbit found himself being given a mount by the guild and he was ready to go.
