I checked the menu for the status for the tribe I was supposedly in. The Goldtail Tribe was medium sized with 8 distinct herds to its name. The menu's encyclopedia said that the Dutheron Plains were actually home to three separate tribes. All of the shifter tribes were diasporic in nature. The Goldtail, Blacktail and Trueleap tribes claimed the plains as ancestral lands. Blacktail was a big tribe with 14 herds. Trueleap was a small tribe with 4. Every five years the herds of the tribe came together. The three tribes came together in a sacred grotto of stones and powerful mana crystals on the beach once per decade. However, as shifters, we all still had human lives to attend to. Therefore, most of their time was spent among humans in small settlements such as coastal towns and villages. The first change only manifested when they came of age at 16. All those that changed were expected to go to the tribe and shifter summits. I was a Thin Blood, so I only become a centaur at the full moon. Both Thin Bloods and the tribe Changelings were usually the lower ranked because they could not shift at will.
Even with that, I was still stronger than what humans could ever achieve. The popup appeared telling me to go to the grove. It was the first quest of the game. I rolled my eyes and decided to go along. I looked at the map and followed it. The map led me to where the plains led to a cliff overlooking the ocean. I took a moment to look at it. It certainly was a beautiful world. I heard the galloping of hooves and I turned. There were two identical young men smiling at me. I could tell that they were both NPCs. A quick look at them showed me what tribe they were in. The snow white fur of their barrels and the golden tails told me they were part of my tribe. That was good. I smiled at them. "See, Ash!? Look. I told you there was someone nearby." one said. "Whatever. I never said there was no one there. I just told you I didn't think you could really find him, Alex." the other said. He then turned towards me. "You there. I'm Ash and this is my brother, Alex. Who're you?" he asked. I gave them my in game name. They nodded and asked what tribe I was in. "I'm a part of the Goldtail Tribe." I said.
Alex smiled, but Ash narrowed his eyes. He pointed a harsh finger at me and and demanded "Prove it." I shrugged and said "I can't. I am a Thin Blood." They gave me a look of pity. "Oh. The two of us are Half bloods. Our ma was piss drunk on a new moon and mated with a human bandit she found on the road." Alex said with a smile on his face. I looked around but did not see her. I asked where she was and Ash said "She was thrown out of the herd she was born in. It's our birthright so we are going to be here whether or not she wants to swallow her pride and come back." It seemed that Ash a much more negative view on it than his twin did. I thought I was going to get along with Alex. "Do you know where we are supposed to meet? I thought it was supposed to be here." Ash scoffed and said "You're standing over it. We have to get down the bluff and onto the beach to enter the sacred grotto." Alex nodded and said "Let's go before it gets dark. Tonight's the full moon." They led me down a path that got us to the sand of the beach. If my build was a warhorse, they were both racehorses.
Going with them was pretty rough as they were much faster than me. Alex offered to let me to ride his back. I declined the offer. As we approached the grotto, I could see a pier a few miles down. Seeing that meant that a settlement was very close by to the sacred place for the shifters of the plains. The twins also looked nervous about it. As we got to the mouth of the grotto, a brown workhorse with a white tail approached us. It stared at us and we could all his its thoughts in our minds. 'Are you three here for the summit? Goldtail is further in the back.' was what we heard. We nodded and went further in. We found the members hanging out. The Pure Bloods of the tribe and higher were fully horses. There were a few centaurs in the mix as well. The rest were in human form. As we got closer, a centaur with a pen and parchment wrote down our names. "We made it to 96 members. This is a 11% increase from the last shifter summit." he announced to the group. The group looked pleased with the announcement. There were 2 Progenitors, 50 Pure Bloods, 28 Half Bloods, 5 Thin Bloods and 11 Changelings.
