The Faerie Ring Society: It is unknown if silent ones have any social structure, but the matabiri believe not, except to serve at Hob’s whim They have no other responsibilities: they don’t reproduce on their own, and they feed primarily by absorbing nutrients from their surroundings The lush valley and moving waters ensure that they never go hungry, and they hunt when they choose for additional sustenance Relationships: The silent ones are completely devoted to Hob None has ever rebelled and it is doubtful that they are capable of such incendiary thoughts Without hesitation, they perform Hob’s tasks to the letter These tasks have typically been of discovery, delivery, theft, assassination, and a host of other activities Sometimes, it is as simple and mysterious as physically being in a location at a given time or moving an object from one location to another It’s boggling to think what effect these seemingly insignificant actions might have, but the matabiri presume that these many small actions are vital in the furtherance of Hob’s inscrutable agenda Strategy & Tactics: Silent Ones treat foes not as enemies but as prey They rely on their natural defenses to avoid or ignore attacks while attempting to grab, engulf, and begin to digest the nearest opponent If possible, they drag captured prey into the water and try to drown them They employ their ability to control others seemingly at random, as if according to some strange and unknown plan YAKSHA O cloud, the parching spirit stirs thy pity; My bride is far, through royal wrath and might; Bring her my message to the Yaksha city, Rich-gardened Alaka, where radiance bright From Shiva’s crescent bathes the palaces in light [ ] Where lovers, rich with hidden wealth untold, Wander each day with nymphs forever young, Enjoy the wonders that the gardens hold, The Shining Gardens, where the praise is sung Of the god of wealth by choirs with love-impassioned tongue —Kalidasa, Meghaduta [The Cloud Messenger] Apparently lost to history, the yaksha were rediscovered by Hob during his travels He found the first three trapped in stasis, buried deep in the ground within the mountains surrounding Shambhala Returning these frozen yaksha to Kalapa, he began the complex rituals required to release them All their memories were lost in the long entombment, except the knowledge that they were yaksha The newly revived yaksha worked with the matabiri as best they could to restore their minds, but lack of results and the yaksha temperament has caused this line of inquiry to cease As a result, the relationship between the two races has become terribly strained The yaksha have since learned to locate and revive other yaksha buried in the earth and scattered far and wide, thus adding a handful to their numbers With what help the matabiri are still able and willing to offer and with the additional yaksha, a small number of facts have started to come to light History: The yaksha have also made a deal with Mahu, the Thief of Nowhere, which they will likely come to regret someday, as most In return for their “future favors rendered,” he has provided them with an unnamed, one-of-a-kind collection of tales (presumably kept safe all this time in his demesne of lost things), detailing a dark and twisted time that perhaps never was The very last tale was originally titled “The Road to Alaka,” but the title has been scratched out, and in its place, an unsure hand has scrawled “The Doom that Came to Alaka.” The wondrous city of Alaka is described in all its magnificence Clinging to the mountaintops and kissing the clouds, its crystal and moonstone towers glistened in the moonlight Its gardens bloomed full year round, and its Wishing Tree called as a constant beacon to pilgrims Under good King Kubera, this beautiful city prospered like no other Something changes in the story, though The tone darkens, and the words become more frantic and less measured The content shifts to unusual disasters and weirder happenstance, building to a fever pitch until just after the phrase “coming cataclysm.” Mid-sentence, the text stops No pages are torn out nor words marred; subsequent pages are simply blank For sixty-seven — 41 —