Letter of the Law

All those who come with honor

"…the Tuchuk bent to the soil and picked up a handful of dirt and grass, the land on which the bosk graze, the land which is the land of the Tuchuks, and this dirt and this grass he thrust in my hands and I held it. The warrior grinned and put his hands over mine so that our hands together held the dirt and the grass, and were together clasped on it. ‘Yes…come in peace to the Land of the Wagon Peoples.’ "

Visitors - Will not be allowed to reside within camp. If they live in the city, they are Dweller tainted and have no devotion to tribe. They are a risk to allow to freely move around the wagons. They can stay in their own wagons outside of camp, at the very outer of patrol lines away from the bosk. Only blood relatives will be allowed into camp, ONLY if escorted by the member of tribe their related to. They will be treated no better then traveling merchants. They will not be allowed to clan wagons, not be allowed anywhere outside of the central fires, kaiila pens, or plains. Visitors are not allowed near the bosk. They may not bring their mates, or step children. Only blood is allowed. This will be so, with prior approval from the Ubar.


To say that I was angry or upset at the loss of opportunity to learn more from my mentor would be a misnomer. When we rode to where the healer was, both Fonce and I were tense, expecting perhaps the worst but to come upon her far out beynd the wagons, past the herds, sitting calmly talking to a woman of the cities was very disappointing, maybe even disturbing. We were pleased she was safe and sound, yes but there had not been an emergency that took away from Tribe, from clan, who know perhaps from what could have been best for our people as a whole, there was just ... a dweller.

More than that Fonce was ired over the fact that Kaeli had gone against the letter of the law the Ubar himself had lain down. Women were not allowed out of sight of the harigga for our own safety. She like the other woman would be returned to the camp and chained until Ayguili himself could handle each prospective issue.

The idea of the city woman chained as an offering to the Ubar had appeal but Fonce did remind me ... Kaeli had found her first and would be the one to let her ride back to the main fires with her. The Tribes woman on the other hand would face the consequence of her own actions. It all seemed to be well in hand as we swung our kaiila around and headed back.

It was not going to be the last of any of this by any means. Instead it was the beginning of a test of our people as a whole, a shadow of something dark and forboding that would end up looming over the peacefulness of our way of life.