?Well, as I had mentioned briefly before, when you become one with Mahiya ? when you answer Her call, you are not of a clan anymore; you are Mahiya's Gnarcheon - her favored child. Brothers like you and I, and sisters like Shankaria no longer hold any clan affiliation, so in that respect Shankaria is not ?my clan?s? wisdomspeaker.
That said, she is indeed wise, and she is often council to all Gnarcheon throughout the Dale. She is considered by many to be Torqaniq, which is the most revered of all Gnarcheon and sort of serves as the Dale?s most holy mortal.
You know how a true leader will simply do what they think needs to be done, and people just follow naturally? It?s not like any specific person or body has proclaimed that this person is the leader, it is just widely accepted that they are? That?s how it is with Torqaniq. No one actually says ?from this day forth, ye shall be??. It just happens when everyone in the Dale is in agreement that you are Torqaniq. The only people who think that Shankaria is not Torqaniq are people who have not met her.
She is the most learned person that I have ever met. I once was with her in the north reaches when we stumbled upon a shadewolf attack upon a smallish clan of the mudfoot tribe in progress. She turned me into a tree, then turned herself into a fireball and killed the entire pack of shadewolves in no time at all. She then came to stand in the middle of the victims (there had to be nearly two score of them) and healed them all at the same time! She was then able to actually regrow one of the fellow?s legs that had been shredded by one of the foullings.
Within a quarter hand, that little clan of gnomes went from obliterated to perfectly hale. It was truly one of the most amazing things that I?ve witnessed in my life. The Divinities whisper in her ears.
As to how it came to be that I was apprenticed to her, I did ask her that once. From my perspective, my grandsire had simply said that when it was time, it would be so. And so it was. It never occurred to me that it might not come to be. Shankaria would never speak of it really, she just said that it was so, and so it was.
But I?ll tell you my thinking: I think that she and my grandsire are wed. I think that Shankaria is my Grandmatron. You know how when you know someone, and they talk about certain things, you can read their emotions as well as hear their words? Well, in the few times when Shankaria spoke of my Grandsire, her words were non-committal, but her body spoke loudly of deep love. And she knew things of my family and lineage that you would only expect of family members. I?m not saying that she couldn?t have known otherwise, but I do have that strong suspicion.
And it makes sense to me. Between my Grandsire and Shankaria, I?ve been taught by the greatest mortal hunter the Dale has ever produced and by the greatest and most revered Gnarcheon as well. The investment that was placed in me is different from any others from the Dale. Gnarcheon are usually inducted earlier than I was. I was taught to hunt, which Gnarcheon are not. Not only to hunt, but for the specific hunting of the foullings. My grandsire spent many cycles teaching me the ways of the shadewolves and how to best kill them. Shankaria had mentioned once that it was unfortunate that this training had eaten into the time that I might otherwise have spent learning to be closer to Mahiya, but that it couldn?t be helped. She had murmured (although I heard her before she realized that she was speaking) that Istisha had a different plan for me, and that my Grandsire?s skills needed melding with hers.
It seems to me that this is why she told me to come this way last Rynnyx, after Istisha had veered from her course. We were atop a ruined tor on that night, and after Istisha?s divergence, Shankaria looked to me and said ?It is time, Maccabeus. Istisha calls for you. Follow the mountains southerly until you and Wolf come upon the town of Threshold. Take my teachings and my love.? Then she kissed me upon my forehead and simply vanished into smoke. Or steam. I was so flustered that I didn?t have the opportunity to check, she had simply dissipated.
And, a season and a half later, here I am.?
?Goodness, listen to me go on!? He exclaimed. ?Such a long answer for such a simple question. I am sorry.?
