Tongba Yuk

 

Yuk once served the Ta Dynasty, but left after the Dawnseekers gained power. He considers Dolquer Pasang an evil man and opposes the drive for eastward expansion—especially at the cost of degrading the Chalmwood.

 Yuk knows that the Dawnseekers have sent spies into the Chalmwood and used blackmail and various other tactics to disrupt and sew division within the Chalmwood elven society.

 ·       “I once served the Ta Dynasty. But no more. The great sentinel, Soslan Ta, left us in tranquility. But now there is the desire for expansion. Some claim they would prefer peace, but the house must maintain par with the heirs of Koji to the west. This I do not believe. Koji House is a threat to some, yes, but not to Daystar. It is only greed.”

 ·       “It is only a question of time before the tensions in the Chalmwood come to violence. The resources of the forest are vast, and those atop the House of Ta do not respect its sanctitude. The Dawnseekers are ascendant and the day will come that Daystar moves on the Northmen, or pushes eastward into the barrens. And they will take lumber and soil and animals from the Chalmwood for weapons and fuel and war materiel. The elves cannot stand idly by and allow this, so I fear there is no alternative.”

 ·       “The Dawnseekers ride under the red sun of Ostlyn. But the goddess does not favor them. Ostlyn stands for discipline, vigilance, and humility—yet these men are rash, overconfident, and above all arrogant.”

 ·     Violet, as you know, calls for the rarest of indigo dyes. So there are few who wear purple garments of any kind—and so it is the one who does stands out. He is called Dolquer Pasang, a high daimyo in the Ta Dynasty and leader among the Dawnseekers. He is a thoroughly wicked man—but a more skillful and cunning warrior you will not find.

 ·       “I have wandered now four years. I was sent with a patrol of warriors south across the River Chalmo to guard a mining camp in the East Hills. I didn’t know it before I got there, but the mine operator had shown up with a troop of hired goons and driven a Northman village off their ancestral land, then burrowed into a sacred mountain with this new mine. When I arrived, a Northman chief approached and asked if I had come to expel the miners. Only then did I learn what had happened.

 I went to the mine operator and asked if the Northman’s story was true. ‘Of course it’s true,’ he answered back. ‘And?’ I’ll never forget that response, such arrogance, such inhuman contempt in his voice. ‘And?’

 So I told him I was leaving. I gathered my men and we headed straight back toward the riverbank. On my way I told the Northman chief I hadn’t come to restore his land, but he had every right to fight for it. We crossed back into Daystar and I reported to my commander that the mine was on stolen land.

 A few days later I learned the Northmen had regathered and demanded the mine operator leave—and when he refused, attacked and killed the operator and all his mercenaries. Shortly thereafter, my commander told me the order to protect the mine had come from a high daimyo by the name of Dolquer Pasang, who was very upset that I had left. According to my commander, Pasang did not care that the miners had displaced the villagers, or that the mine was on a sacred mountain. He considered my actions insubordinate, and I was likely to be punished or even executed for treason.

 In times past, I would likely have stayed behind to clear my name. But there is no reason in Daystar now. No mercy. No humanity. The decision to leave was not a difficult one. I am but a warrior—I had no family, only my loyalty to an increasingly cruel and corrupt regime. Now, I am but a wanderer. A ronin, as they say in Daystar. I once despised those who went by that name. Now, I embrace it.”