Chapter 3.
For a long time the two men sat, quietly talking. Evander stood at the window, watching. He had already heard what had happened, even before Broc had requested to join him on the Brighid. The transceiver which accompanied Broc’s clan had automatically sent updates over the years (or in the case of Brighid time, hours).
Reports from geosynchronous monitors had kept Evander apprised of not only Broc’s and Nahm’s progress, but also tracked the movements of the Tal.
Upon reaching the Marmara Plateau, instead of splitting as Amon’s clan had done, the Tal remained together and turned westward. From time to time they came in contact with established communities which had split off from Broc’s group and settled along the Mediterranean coastline.
These encounters were never peaceful. The coastal communities were stable and well defended. Though the Tal attempted invasions, their numbers (and for that matter, their abilities) were insufficient to mount successful assaults. Consequently they continued moving westward, skirting the coastal communities.
Without even being aware of Broc’s clan to their north, the Tal out-distanced them, eventually arriving at the western-most shores of the European continent many years ahead of the humans.
The Tal remained a war-like race, even as they continued moving westward. Now, bounded by the continental coastline to the west and the inhospitable conditions to the north, they focused their aggression on each other.
Convinced of their superiority, even in the face of previous defeats by the humans, they became idolatrous. They convinced themselves that their defeats were not their fault, but rather were punishments for their perceived weakness, brought upon them by forces beyond their understanding and control.
They came to believe that supplication to these imagined forces would increase their strength and allow them to more easily defeat their enemies.
To placate these unseen forces, they built structures wherein they made sacrifices and worshipped their ‘gods.’
The stone edifice discovered by Broc’s clan was the largest of these structures. In later centuries it became known as Stonehenge.