Finally breaking through the veil of mist, the clan could see the form for what it truly was. Strapped to a raft that had been massively expanded upon was the skull plate of a massive horned beast—what we now call an Akatriarch— and tied to its frontmost horn was a single lantern. In silent awe the clan watched this colossal shell drift toward the shore, stepping back as it plowed into the sand and came to a stop. For a moment, there was not a sound but the lapping of waves upon the shore.
Then climbing out from behind the Akatriarch skull plate and standing tall upon its crown, bearing a long, bent and worn spear in his hand, was Vikas Tan. Without a word, he snapped the ropes binding the skull plate to the raft, jumping off as it toppled to the side and revealed the contents hidden within. The raft was brimming with an assortment of smoked and raw meats, thick animal skins, large bladders bulging with fresh water, succulent fruits never before seen, stacks of immaculate woods, and bundles of animal bones and carapaces. For Vikas Tan had not died within the first week nor lost his way in the depths of Kul’dri Vas. What he discovered on the forsaken continent was a world untouched by man, where gargantuan beasts roamed through bountiful forests, where the Rain of Fire hadn’t so much as singed a single leaf. He realized that in order to return with a haul that would save his people, he would need to construct a bigger raft. Though it took him three weeks longer than he had promised, he had returned with more than anyone could have ever dreamed.
It seemed like no coincidence then, when on that very day, our people discovered the first sprigs of life creeping their way out from beneath the scorched land of the Coast. Perhaps Kalea had not forsaken our people after all, but merely saw fit to test us, that we might rediscover the path to survival. Whatever the cause, our people ceased to concern themselves with the divine or celestial fates which may be in store for us, instead choosing to seize our own paths, never again letting destiny keep us from pushing forward.
And so it became that the boy Vikas Tan, the first to voyage across the Muted Sea to Kul’dri Vas, went on to teach our people of what he had learned. In time, the ways of the Voyager were adopted across all the Coast, and the era of the Anguish Unforgotten finally came to an end. Our humanity, the greatest of gifts, was returned to the people of the Coast.
The Akatriarch’s skull plate came to be used for the first of the Great Voyager Keeps, a symbol of our newfound tradition. In the generations to come the voyage to Kul’dri Vas became a rite of passage for our children. Each and every one of our people carries out the same fateful voyage to Kul’dri Vas for our first hunt, equipped with only meager supplies of food, water and personally built Falkatas—our empowering armaments.
Once the bloodshed ceased, the clans did still remain separated, too entrenched in their new ways to set aside their differences completely. But no matter what the clan, the people of the Coast became the Fertevikas, those who followed in the Way of Vikas Tan.