It was raining when you were born, so your Mother said, but that evening was auspicious as the the moon rose early and was in the correct constellation and Venus was in the right place. That was what was said, but you know much better now; your Grandmother would have said the same thing, that it was auspicious, no matter which constellation and which Maiden was where. You learned this, because you have been your Village’s shaman for years now and leaving her successor up to chance was not an option. Play was considered an important part of growing up in your family, but there were many lessons that were taught in conjunction, identifying plants, insects and snakes. It was important to know which animals were dangerous and which were not. It was also important to know which plants were which because many of them were edible, others beneficial and still others valuable. There was a lot to learn, but unlike many children in Creation there were a lot more dangers outside your village than other places. It was all training for your future role too.
You started your formal training when you were six years old. In your village all children start learning their adult duties early, so you began training under the watchful eyes of your Grandmother and Mother, the Matriarchal leaders of your family. You were taught that your family were the leaders because of the spirit blood that ran through your veins, it was a lie, but you did not learn that until much later. While other children were taught how to thatch roofs and how to weave boats, houses and clothing from the palm leaves, or how to make arrows and later bows and spears used in hunting as well as the crafts of stealth and which frogs make the best poison, you were learning the arts of medicine, spirit appeasement, child birthing, herbology and decision making. There were other disciplines that were required, but weather foretelling was easy (it rained everyday two hours after noon in the dry season and it rained all day and night in the wet season), astrology (look at the stars and the Maidens and tell people that their child, hunting or whatever would be good or bad depending on the lesson you wanted to teach) and decision making, which was just common sense.
You had your first child at the age of 14, common for your tribe and your second the next year, where your grandmother proclaimed that she would follow in your footsteps as you had, and she would be a shaman too. When you turned 16, you were fully initiated into your family’s inherited role when you learned the final secret. You were not spirit blooded like you were told, like the village was told; you shared the blood of the Fair Folk. Your grandmother showed you, it was her 48th Dry Season and she said that it was her time to honour the pact that had been keeping the village safe for all these years. This was the first that you heard of any pact too. She told you this as the three acting Shaman went out into the rainforest, you, your mother and your grandmother. She explained that all adults that reached the age of 48, were required to make this last journey and that one day, if you lived that long you would too. When you reached the appointed place, an altar that you had seen many times deep in the forest, your mother and you called out in the holy tongue and asked for an audience with the Great Saviour of Forest’s Bounty. Soon the most beautiful being appeared, it just walked out to meet them and it took hold of grandmother’s hand and departed.
Life continued in the village like normal afterwards, only every changing of the seasons, you and your mother escorted elderly folk out to the altar to be given to Forest’s Bounty. As the years passed you grew into your own woman, had more children and gained respect for your judgements and your cures. When your eldest daughter reached the age of 6 her training began and other duties that your mother had performed became yours. You were expected to travel down the Great River each wet season and bring the bounty of preserved herbs to trade. It was at these times that you were exposed to the other cultures of the River and to that you saw sights that expanded your view of the world. You learned a little bit of a few of the languages of the people you traded with. The more you learned the more that you learned that some of the herbs that you traded, were worth a lot more than you traded them for. Armed with this knowledge the subsequent journeys were much more profitable for your community and you were able to trade for more valuable things like copper cookware and steel tools. Trading wider afield also gave you access to more knowledge too, like you learned all the terrible things that the Fair Folk did to people and that they have a weakness; cold wrought iron. Your last trading expedition you were able to buy a weapon made of this weapon, however, you never really had any intention of using it, the Fair Folk and Forest’s Bounty had protected your village for years from many threats, so there was no reason to hurt them.
Years past, you yourself became a grandmother and you selected which of your daughter’s daughters would join the cycle of rulership and become your new apprentice. Your granddaughter is a real delight and full of life. Her eagerness to rush into the training had inspired you greatly and you became a better Shaman. You began to love all the villagers as if they were your grandchild and it was such that every meeting, twice a year that your heart hung in shame at the loss to Forest’s Bounty. Except, they kept the deal and there were no attacks and the hunts always brought back a bounty. It was late in your 47th year that things changed.
Part way through your 47th Wet Season things were going well. There were stories from villages close by that there had been strangers kidnapping hunters and raiding villages. Some of those towns had been completely depopulated. You know that it was true because you had seen the empty towns and you had seen the fear in the eyes of the nearby villagers, but nothing had happened to your village, and for that you were thankful. Late in the wet season things changed. There were sightings of strangers moving in the forest and then one night, a daring raid upon the village and forty-three friends and family were kidnapped or killed. One of those that was kidnapped was your granddaughter. All warbands that went searching for the slavers found no trace, but one did not come back at all. Nothing could be done, the slavers had steel and your villagers had stone tools for the most part.
When the Dry Season came it was your time to go with Forest’s Bounty and it was supposed to be your Granddaughter’s initiation. The Fair Folk promise to protect the village rung hollow and you dried up your tears and discovered the long forgotten iron weapon and decided that you had nothing left to lose. You met The Fair Folk after calling out to them in the holy speech. They came forth as before, but this time things were different. The moment that they came into the clearing the sky darkened as if the rains had come early. The Sun was being eclipsed by the moon when it was not supposed to happen. Words sounded in your head, “ I the Unconquered Sun Exalt you! Take your powers and set the world to rights. Bring those that would break my covenants and bring them to their knees!” With that the clearing filled with the strong glow of sunlight, but not from the Sun, which was eclipsed in totality, but from you! “You Failed in your duties to to protect our village from foreign interlopers. Your Failure has consequences!” and with that you plunged the iron blade into its chest and it exploded, showering its fellows with gore. “The Ancient Pact with my people is over until you retrieve the villagers that were taken. If you return them here, and promise to protect the village better, the pact will continue as before, but if we find them before you, it is over forever.”
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