Chapter 24: Kairen

It was a terrible day for a funeral. The sun was shining, there was a soft breeze from the south, and the sound of children laughing filled the air. Yes, it was a terrible day for a funeral, but fortunately it looked like funerals weren’t a nomad tradition. Kairen watched on in mild bemusement as the nomads marked the loss of one of their own, not with mourning or wailing, but with celebration.

During the night Bel, one of the guards, had passed away from his injuries. Despite Healer Elan and her assistant doing what they could for him, detecting and curing the internal bleeding was beyond their skills and medicine. Slowly the word went around. One of the tribe had died giving their all for their brothers and sisters. Now it was the tribe’s turn to return the honor.

The elders slowly made the rounds, taking the time to inform every family and single adult of Bel’s passing. Kairen had been asleep at the time and only found out when he woke up. All regular work had been suspended, and the tribe was organizing a celebration of Bel’s life. They moved with practiced ease. Death was simply part of life in the Shifting Sands, an acknowledgement of the dangerous environment they found themselves in.

The centerpiece of the event was Bel’s surviving family. He had no children, but his young wife was surrounded by his parents and sisters as they shared the burden of their loss. Dreamwine, pulled from Healer Elan’s tent and poured into the finest cups, was carefully held in trembling hands. Occasional sips of the liquid eased the soul-deep ache and helped memories flow freely. The rest of the tribe mostly went about their work, but whenever the family was left to themselves for a couple of minutes a worker would set aside their platter of food or the stools they were hauling and make their way over.

Kairen found himself following along, an invisible witness isolated not just by his death but by his culture. Funerals were meant to be somber affairs, a delicate balance of support and distance. Attending a funeral showed the deceased mattered to you, while the family was ignored, left on the sidelines to express their grief freely without worry about propriety. Bel had been just another worker as far as Kairen had known him. By all rights Kairen should have been on the other side of the oasis keeping an eye on the goats until things returned to normal, but he was nonetheless pulled in.

It helped that the nomads weren’t quiet. One by one they came and shared their stories of Bel, of the impact he had on their lives. They did so loudly and freely, not yelling but letting their stories carry themselves outwards on the wind.

“He spent an afternoon showing my grandson how to use a sling.”

“I remember when he was only seven or eight, and for three months straight managed to show up at the kitchen every time the sausages were finished cooking. Didn’t matter whether he was supposed to be doing chores or helping out on the other side of the camp. One time the sausages were started late, but he still showed up in the middle of the night to eat the ends and other bits and pieces. Didn’t take long after that to realize he had somehow trained one of the dogs to tell him about the meat in return for a share. We threatened him with dish duty after that and life moved on.”

Some were a bit quieter with their tales, such as one young woman who shyly approached the family.

“He was my first kiss, did you know? He was a couple of years older than me, and it was the first time I was allowed to stay up and join the dancing. I didn’t think anyone would pick me, but Bel did and even gave me a kiss at the end for letting him step on my toes, even though that was me messing up. He was so good, and I’m so happy that he ended up with you, Mara. Even if…” She trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes. Mara stepped forwards to embrace her in a hug. “Even then.” She said firmly and for a moment the two simply existed, caught up in their shared grief. Then the moment ended and the two broke apart, lighter for the experience.

“Sara, honey, I’m sure Bel would have stepped on your feet no matter how good of a dancer you were. He was good at many things, but dancing was not one of them.” Bel’s mother added her own thoughts on the matter and the good mood was returned, strengthened by the tears that continued to freely flow.

“Be nice to Bel! Half the time he was messing up on purpose to bump into someone else.” A bystander called out.

“And the other half?” Mara played into the banter.

“He was looking at you, of course!” A round of claps and hollers went up as the joke finished.

Sarah gave Mara one more brief hug. “We did bump into an awful lot of Elders.” She mused thoughtfully before shaking her head and giving a small curtsy. “I’ll be off now. Those wolf hearts aren’t going to cook themselves.

It didn’t take long for the next person to come and fill the void she left, and the stories continued to flow.

Kairen only paid them half a mind. He had felt like an intruder during the intimate moment and had opened up his screen as a diversion, only to notice that once again he was gaining far more upgrade points than he was supposed to. Something about the wake going on was fueling his growth.

Kairen had several upgrades he wanted to get, but reluctantly turned his focus elsewhere. Profiting off of another man's death didn’t feel right to him. The points had to be spent on something, and Kairen looked through his options to see what would serve as a fitting tribute.

Before he could focus too heavily on that train of thought the blessings caught his eye. Creating a tribute was all well and good, but a better choice would be doing what he could to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. The combat blessing and the endurance blessing both promised to help the nomads with any future monster attacks like the sand wolves. Better fighters would only help the people training to fight, while the endurance blessing would benefit everyone. Of course, the endurance blessing was only partially related to increased fortitude and would only extend as far as Kairen’s borders. It wouldn’t help any of the nomads who left to go on trips to gather resources or go trade elsewhere. It was a tough choice, but in the end Kairen went with the endurance option. Having more energy to train would help the fighters out, while hopefully helping keep any injured people alive until they could heal. The endurance blessing would also provide a benefit not focused on combat, allowing the rest of the tribe to work harder and longer, although Kairen was glad that he didn’t have to deal with children who had even more energy to be a bother.

The rest of the morning Kairen kept his screen open, trying to figure out what exactly caused him to gain upgrade points. The points came in faster when people were sharing their stories, but it wasn’t a consistent amount and it suddenly jumped at other times as well. Noon arrived and Kairen felt like he was close to seeing the connection, that it was just out of reach for his mental capabilities. All he needed was one tiny clue and it would all fall into place.

The clue didn’t come. Lunch, however, did. While all sorts of dishes had been prepared the centerpiece of the feast was sand wolf. Cooking monster meat required extra time and effort, but it was worth it for the nomads. The feast they made wasn’t simply a meal, but a testament of Bel’s greatest hour. Today the tribe would feast on the flesh of their enemies, boiled, roasted, and grilled.

The hearts had been cut out and put aside for later, but every other monster part had been rendered down. Sand wolf pelts were placed on the ground where people could walk over them, and the bones had been carved into simple toys for the kids to play with.

The main entertainment during the meal consisted of the people who had been with Bel during his final hours retelling the tale of his battle over and over, embellishing as they went. The simple story of fleeing for his life from overwhelming monsters gradually transformed into a tale worthy of any ancient hero.

“Bel had two miners slung over his back while he ran.” One miner carried on the tale, only to be interrupted.

“Only two? I was there and he helped seven of us get back safely.”

“Well his back’s only so big, isn’t it? If you had let me continue, I would have mentioned that he helped save another five of us by throwing us as he went along. Juggling us through the air to keep us away from the sand wolves.” The first replied haughtily, before downing his drink.

“Not just sand wolves, but vipers and scorpions as well! Giant ones, with fangs thicker than my arm. Only reason you didn’t see any of them here is that Bel outran them all and left them to starve in the Sands.”

It took hours for the food to run out and for a tale to be told that couldn’t be topped, but eventually the meal came to an end, as all good things do. By unspoken consensus, the mood turned solemn. Despite the attempts at good cheer, despite the focus on celebration and good memories, Bel was still dead. Only now, with full understanding of who he was and what he had done, could he be laid to rest.

Elder Arun officiated the short ceremony. Bel’s body lay on the ground in front of him while his fellow guards worked to the side to dig a burial pit. Arun gave them a moment to start their work before speaking.

“Many years ago, so long ago that we only remember it in stories, the empire that our ancestors built was destroyed. They called themselves the masters of the desert, and the Shifting Sands showed them the foolishness of their arrogance. That was the day we lost everything.

Though they still breathed, the few left knew they were dead. Only luck had spared them. Death was their only future. They fought that fate, and even though they were eventually overcome by the Sands they had children and grandchildren. They fought and struggled every day of their life and they taught these lessons to their descendants. ‘Death is expected. Life is the surprise.’

That is why we celebrate. It is a terrible thing for Bel to die, to be with us no more, but it is even more amazing that he had the time he did. Every day he lived had its own worth. His life had meaning. It is up to us to carry that meaning forwards, to challenge death each day, to make a better life for our children and grandchildren until one day death is once more a surprise.”

Elder Arun stepped back and nodded. Bel’s body was slowly lowered into the ground and dirt was once more shoveled into place.

“We bury our dead in the desert, under sands that will soon forget their burden. Not Bel. Even in death Bel will help this Oasis grow, will help the tribe in the last way he could. May we prove worthy of his sacrifice.

For Bel.” He ended, and everyone replied. “For Bel.”

Kairen joined in, quietly and unheard. The nomads weren’t his family, weren’t his tribe, but he resonated with their perspective. He was dead and had died in a terrible manner. If his actions now could make the world a better place, could keep one person alive that wouldn’t be otherwise, then everything was worth it. “For Bel. For me.”

Kairen made to follow the dispersing nomads as they made their way back to continue their wake, only to be interrupted by a burning sensation.

Even though he had only closed his screen for a minute to listen to the eulogy, Kairen found his upgrade pool full to the point of bursting. Remembering the wolves that had broken through to get to the children, he managed to choose to upgrade his defensive barrier before the system could do so for him. One final gift from Bel to keep his tribe safe, Kairen mused, before sitting down to think.

A feast, sharing stories, and a burial. The three events were so very different from each other, but all had provided him with upgrade points. Kairen also suspected that there were other avenues that upgrade points could be gathered. The great temple of Ing was built around the concept of fertility and creation, and Kairen had heard offhandedly that Ing provided her blessing in return for aspirants dedicating their lovemaking to her. It was only a single unreliable piece of information to work with, but it fit.

Meaning, or perhaps significance was the fuel that caused Oases to grow. The regular cycle of life and death that was part of nature mattered to some degree, but humans had the ability to attach significance to events and actions far beyond their inherent value. A coyote hunting a rabbit was simply following its nature and earning itself a meal. A human hunting the same rabbit might view the event as their first hunt, or perhaps the rabbit was intended for a special meal or mattered more because the hunter had experienced a dry spell of finding targets.

The events that had given Kairen a large amount of upgrade points were simply the events that had meant a lot to the people present. Their first feast to celebrate a Pathfinder and the discovery of an Oasis. The memories that made up a life, told to comfort family. A promise uttered over a grave to make the world a better place. The trend also suggested a possible feedback loop could set itself up with a bit of luck. If an event had enough significance to overfill the pool of an Oasis, and the upgrade chosen had a visible effect, then it was possible for the people present to notice and make the connection. Repetition of the act would then have significance not just in and of itself, but the association would add its own meaning as well.

What might have started as a simple act of love under the stars had grown into a great temple over time, and Kairen wondered just how many other festivals and celebrations had ties to an Oasis and its upgrades? He’d have to be careful in the future to avoid the nomads forming any awkward associations. It wouldn’t do to have everyone think he was honored by laundry day or the like.