Msaka sat in stunned silence, at a complete loss for words. The shaman had never been one for levity, and in the face of something so serious, it was inconceivable that he could be jesting about it, even as lightly as he had... and yet he had done just that. His eyes still held Msaka's gaze in their iron grip, though the fury no longer blazed within them.

The shaman allowed the sudden silence to linger for several moments before he spoke again in an almost contemplative tone. "Your breach of our laws isn't something that I can simply overlook. There will have to be an accounting, and it's unlikely to be in your favor. Still... I can't hold it all against you, since in a way I'm as much to blame for some of it as you are."

Msaka finally found his voice, though his words were still quiet and his question put rather shyly. The shaman's sudden change of mood notwithstanding, he was still on very thin ice as far as his future was concerned. "How can you be at fault for it?" he ventured, wondering if this was some kind of test to see whether he would take responsibility for his actions or seek to shift the blame elsewhere. "You sent me out, but the choices that I made were my own."

"Yes, they were," the shaman nodded. "Which is why you can't be held blameless. But I sent you out there, and had I not..." The shaman leaned forward slightly and ran his hands around the rim of the newly-completed drum. "This drum was created to protect us from the danger that lies out there now. I foresaw this army of beasts rising in the land, and knew that in time it would come against us. So I chose you to find what was needed to safeguard our people, which you did... but I did not foresee that sending you out would be the very thing that gave rise to the danger that we now face. Had you not been sent, we wouldn't have the drum, but neither would the sorcerer would have had no reason to come here and do what he has. It is only by the cruel humor of fate that this has happened at all."

Msaka nodded slowly, feeling some small relief despite the implications as the shaman went on. "It is a strange irony, and I can only begin to guess at the reasons for it. But you have been touched by it, and maybe it was guiding some of the rest of what you did." He leaned back and let out a short and quiet, growling snort. "I would have called your concern for the fate of those outsiders, in both of those foreign lands, misguided before now. But you've spared us any more enemies, unless that desert witch can prove your involvement with the elemental, and that is something to be considered. One sorcerer is enough trouble without bringing more of their ill-will towards us."

The shaman's eyes narrowed slightly as Msaka spoke up again. The shaman's apparent clemency was heartening, and he knew that it was foolish to risk it on such an admission, but at the same time he knew that his reasons had been more than solely pragmatic, and leaving the impression that that was all that had been considered would have been dishonest. "It was more than that," he sighed, then swallowed to give himself a moment to bolster his courage... still wondering whether this was really the best idea. "I really didn't want to hurt them. When the fountain ran dry, what happened to the city..." he shrugged helplessly. "I've told you what happened, but it's hard to explain how it felt to know that I'd done that to them... and I just couldn't do it again in the other land."

Silence descended again as Msaka pleaded silently for the shaman to accept those words, but the shaman's countenance was unreadable, and his eyes betrayed no hint of what he might be thinking. Msaka was genuinely beginning to think that he'd overstepped himself and brought yet more trouble when the shaman finally shook his head dismissively. "I don't blame you," he stated gruffly. "We live in a harsh and hostile land, where survival is not easy, and where we are surrounded by other tribes and beasts who are our enemies and who would do us great harm if given the chance. Showing compassion to any of them simply strengthens them for when they later come against us. But there, among those who are no threat, perhaps it was not so misplaced."

Tentatively - but not totally - relieved that the shaman had accepted his explanation, Msaka sought the answer to what was perhaps the most important question. "What do you intend to do?"

The shaman frowned again, sending another niggling tinge of worry through Msaka. "I can not conceal these events from the rest of the tribe. They will have to be told of at least some of it. And there is the matter of your teaching a part of our magic to the tritons. I can't easily forgive that, and few others will wish to do so. The judgement is likely to be harsh, as well you know. But there is something that you can do, something which may win you some atonement in the eyes of the tribe. Whether it will be enough... we shall see." The shaman leaned forward again and lightly tapped the sides of the drum. "This drum was meant to be played in a ritual here in our village to call the nearby river against the beasts when they came for us. Perhaps it can be used another way."

"To call the river to defend the lion man city," Msaka concluded. "But how can I do this alone?"

"You can't," the shaman replied. "You can take it to the west of the lion man city and play it there... but you must send word to me first when you are ready, so that I can lead another ritual here to lend power to your playing. It will be dangerous, there is no question of that. The beasts may find you and kill you, and the power that we channel to you may simply overwhelm you. But the alternative, if you're still here when the tribe is told what you did..."

The shaman let the words trail off, and Msaka suppressed a shudder. Risky or not, it seemed like his only real hope... and the shaman's suggestion made some strategic sense as well. The lion men had proven eager to go to war with his people once before, and should they ultimately defeat the earth wizard and his army, there was every chance that they'd march again, seeking retribution against his tribe for having brought that destruction down upon them. And if they lost, if the earth wizard and his minions proved to be victorious, then there would be very little standing between him and an attack on the jungle. Even if he couldn't find the village by searching, there would be nothing to stop him from trying to raze the jungle itself until Msaka's home was at last laid bare. Drum or no drum, the damage would be immense.

Daunted but not dissuaded by the challenge and the consequences, Msaka's face became resolute, and his reply was both clear and firm. "I'll do it."