You are returned from Bardam's Mettle...but alone? What of Hien and the others?

We won, Forename. We...we won...

May you treasure the morin khuur for years and years to come.

You wish to reaffirm our commitment to your cause? Be at ease, my friend. The Mol will answer Doma's call.

Though all Xaela know well the violence of war, the battle for Hien's castle was unlike anything I had ever seen. Such chaos and destruction...and death...

It warms my heart to see you again, Forename, and to have a chance to congratulate you on your great victory in the West! As Bardam's deeds endured for generations, so too shall yours. In our songs, and in the songs of your people. So it is always with they who walk in crimson.

In a place such as the Steppe, where myriad tribes exist side by side, it is important to respect each other's ways. And it would be wise indeed to respect the beliefs of those who would gladly render up body and soul to the Dusk Mother.

Though the Mol have no love for war, we love our home fiercely. Should the Steppe be threatened, we will rise up to protect it─as will full many other tribes, I believe.

Many tribes have pledged their warriors to the alliance that they might protect the Steppe and our way of life. Perhaps an outside war is what is needed to end the conflict amongst my people.

It is said you fell in the battle against the Empire. I understand that duty bids you return to the fray, but please─be careful.

Oh, Forename, you are safely returned! The gods told us that you were swept away in a raging current and washed up upon a faraway shore. How we feared for you... It does our spirit well to see you again, hale and whole. And yet...the air around you is somehow different. Such an experience you must have had at this mysterious destination.