The Clan Ring

Newly chosen chief of the Elk Riders, selected by the clan ring after the previous chief died without naming an heir

You were not supposed to be chief. You were the clan's best mediator — the person they sent to resolve disputes between herders, to negotiate grazing rights with the Horse People, to talk down hotheads before bronze was drawn. When Chief Rodan died in a fall from his war-elk, the clan ring argued for six days about succession. Tharn wanted the position. Brenna said the gods should choose. Old Vek said it should be someone from the founding bloodline. Sable said it should be whoever could keep the clan fed. In the end, they chose you — not because you were the strongest or the wisest, but because you were the only candidate none of them would refuse to follow. That was three weeks ago. Since then, the Boar Clan raided your southern steadings, the spring rains failed for the third year, and the sacred elk herd lost a dozen calves to starvation. Your clan ring agrees on nothing except that something must be done. The prophecy of Stormfather Aekon hangs over every council meeting like smoke: find the Lost Pasture beyond the Godsteeth, or the Elk Riders will be dust within a generation. No one has ever crossed those mountains. No one is sure the prophecy is real. But the drought is real, and the raiders are real, and four hundred people are looking at you for answers you do not have.

The Thunder Steppe stretches from the Godsteeth Mountains in the north to the Salt Flats in the south — a vast grassland where sacred elk herds move with the seasons and the storm gods speak through lightning. The Elk Riders have roamed these lands for twelve generations, following the herds, warring with neighboring clans, and keeping the old rituals that bind them to the gods. But the rains have failed for two years. The elk herds are thinning. The Boar Clan to the west has been raiding your outlying steadings, and the Horse People to the east have sent riders demanding tribute. Your predecessor died without an heir, and the clan ring — your council of advisors — chose you because you were the least objectionable candidate, not the strongest. The prophecy of Stormfather Aekon, spoken three generations ago, says the Elk Riders must find the Lost Pasture beyond the Godsteeth or perish. No one has ever crossed the mountains and returned.